-'~-^- 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Shelf. 


BS  480  .L4  1884 

Leavitt,  John  McDowell,  182 

Reasons  for  faith  in  this 
nineteenth  centurv 


REASONS  FOR  FAITH 


IN 


THIS  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


JOHN  McDOWELlK^EAVITT,   D.D., 

President  op  St.  John's  College,  Annapolis,  Maryland. 


NEW  YORK: 

JAMES  POTT  &  CO.,   PUBLISHERS, 

12  AsTOR  Place. 

1884. 


Copyright, 

JOHN  McDowell  leavitt. 


PREFACE. 


TOURING  the  last  nine  years,  as  President  of  a  Col- 
-L^  lege,  the  writer  has  held  a  Lectureship  of  Psy- 
chology and  Christian  Evidences  for  the  instruction  of  a 
Senior  Class.  From  an  extensive  annual  course  he  has 
selected  this  small  volume.  Without  enfeebling  the  argu- 
ment he  has  sought  to  transfer  it  from  the  confined  air 
of  the  recitation-room  to  the  wider  auditory  of  the  Great 
Public. 

St.  John's  Coli.ece,  | 
January  is/,  1884.      f 


CONTENTS. 


LKCTURB.  PAGE. 

I.  The  Divine  Unity i 

II.  Personality  of  God 14 

III.  Mosaic  Cosmical  Record 32 

IV.  Incidental  Proofs  of  Scripture 46 

V.  Adaptation  of  Christianity 64 

VI.  Authenticity  and  Genuineness  of  the  Old  Testament 77 

VII.  Authenticity  of  the  Evangelical  Histories go 

VIII.   Supernatural  Evidence 106 

IX.  Presumptions  Favorable  to  Jesus  Christ 120 

X.   Proofs  of  the  Resurrection 131 

XI.   Narratives  of  the  Resurrection 145 

XII.   Consequences  of  the  Resurrection 161 


LECTURE  I 
THE  DIVINE   UXITY. 

THE  first  verse  of  the  Bible  declares  God  to  be  the 
Creator  of  the  universe.  On  this  foundation  is 
erected  a  system  of  religion  claiming  the  Almighty  as  its 
Author.  Differing  from  Atheism,  whicli  denies  to  the 
universe  a  God  ;  from  Pantheism,  which  confounds  the 
universe  with  God;  from  Polytheism,  which  ascribes  the 
universe  to  many  gods,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  as 
the  cause  of  all  things,  the  Scrijitures  affirm  a  Being  eter- 
nal in  His  existence,  infinite  in  His  nature,  supreme  in  His 
perfections,  conscious  in  His  personality,  and  the  ever- 
lasting Governor  of  His  creation.  This  doctrine  per- 
vades and  binds  into  harmony  the  system  of  the  Bible. 
But  all  the  divine  attributes  imply  the  Divine  Unity,  to 
which  the  Hebrew  people  and  the  Hebrew  writings  bore 
peculiar  and  perpetual  testimony.  And  modern  science  is 
pointing  in  the  same  direction.  By  establishing  the 
unity  of  the  creation  slie  leads  to  the  unity  of  the 
Creator. 

Permit  me  then  to  show  on  this  subject  tlie  wonderful 
harmony  between  Science  and  Scripture. 

I  remark: 

I.    THE    SAMENESS    OF  ITS    MATERIALS  PROVES  THE   UNITY 
OF  THE  UNIVERSE. 

Early  in  this  century  WoUaston  observed  dark  lines  in 
the  solar  spectrum.  How  simple  such  a  fact  !  Yet 
most  stupendous   the   conclusions  to  which  it   has  con- 


2  THE  DIVINE  UNITY. 

ducted  !  Fraunhofer,  of  Alunich,  studied  and  mapped 
the  lines.  Sir  John  Hersclicl  remarked  tliat  by  volatil- 
izing substances  in  a  flame  these  spectral  colors  might 
show  their  ingredients.  This  timely  observation  Kir- 
choff  and  Bunsen  made  fruitful  in  a  method  of  analysis. 
By  ingenious  combinations  of  lenses  and  prisms  numer- 
ous substances  volatilized  in  flames  disclosed  to  science 
their  spectral  lines.  The  same  elements  yielding  always 
the  same  lines  can  be  detected  with  nice  and  invariable 
accuracy. 

Turned  to  the  heavens  the  spectroscope  gives  its 
most  brilliant  results.  The  spectrum  from  the  sun  ex- 
hibits hydrogen,  barium,  calcium,  aluminum,  zinc,  tita- 
nium, copper,  cobalt,  manganese,  sodium,  iron,  nickel, 
chromium  and  magnesium,  while  the  moon  and  planets, 
shining  by  his  reflected  light,  afford  proofs  of  the  same 
substances.  Even  the  rays  of  the  fixed  stars  have  been 
analyzed,  and  worlds  on  the  confines  of  the  universe 
have  been  forced  to  yield  the  secrets  of  their  consti- 
tution. Aldeberan  shows  spectroscopic  lines  corre- 
sponding to  sodium,  bismuth,  tellurium,  mercury  and 
antimony.  Sirius  tells  us  that  he  is  composed  of  iron, 
sodium,  hydrogen  and  magnesium,  whose  flames  display  a 
brilliant  white.  In  Orion  an  orange-tinted  star  exhibits 
sodium,  magnesium,  bismuth  and  calcium.  The  spectra 
of  the  nebulai  of  the  heavens  show  bright  lines  like 
those  of  ignited  gases. 

Thus,  the  elements  of  the  most  distant  worlds  of  space 
are  discovered  to  be  identical  with  those  on  our  earth. 
The  spectroscoi)e  proves  the  universe  to  be  composed  of 
the  same  substances.  Its  lines  are  not  only  facts  of 
Science  but  also  arguments  of  Theology. 

A  further  deduction  is  inevitable.  Elements  combine 
chemically  under  fixed  laws  and  conditions  which   have 


THE  DIVINE  UNITY.  3 

been  ascertained,  and  even  tabulated  by  science.  In- 
deed, by  a  curious  nomenclature  their  atomic  proportions 
are  exhibited  to  the  eye.  Whether  the  elements  exist  as 
gases,  liquids  or  solids  depends  on  pressure  and  temper- 
ature, but  in  every  state  they  unite  in  their  definite  and 
invariable  relative  quantities.  Moreover,  chemical  affini- 
ties are  connected  with  electricity,  which  probably  con- 
trols all  the  subtle  and  infinite  combinations  of  the  ma- 
terial universe.  Similar  molecules  in  the  earth  and  in 
the  stars  obey  similar  laws.  The  chemistry  of  our  globe 
applies  to  all  the  worlds  of  space.  In  our  earth,  in  the 
moon,  in  the  planets,  in  the  sun,  in  the  most  distant  sys- 
tems of  creation,  the  elements  are  the  same,  electricity 
is  the  same,  chemical  affinities  are  the  same.  The  vast 
and  varied  processes  of  the  universe  are  carried  forward 
by  the  same  substances  and  according  to  the  same  laws. 

Now,  the  architecture  of  a  country  is  known  from  the 
materials  of  its  structures.  Only  the  clay  and  bitumen 
of  Shinar  could  have  built  the  walls,  palaces  and  temples 
of  Babylon.  The  tower  of  Belus  lifted  to  the  stars 
bricks  of  the  Mesopotamian  plains.  In  the  white  marbles 
of  the  statues  and  edifices  of  Athens  were  expressed, 
not  only  the  genius  but  the  nationality  of  the  artist.  The 
delicate  stone  of  modern  Paris  from  the  quarries  of 
Chantilly  has  a  color  peculiar  to  France.  Over  the 
world  you  may  distinguish  a  country  by  the  material  of 
its  buildings.  And  thus  with  the  creation.  It  is  proved 
one  in  plan  by  the  identity  of  the  substances  employed 
in  its  architecture. 

II.    THE     SAMENESS     OF     LIGHT     PROVES      THE     UNITY     OF 
THE    UNIVERSE. 

Place  sodium  in  the  flame  of  your  spectroscope  !  You 
detect  the  characteristic  lines!  Turn  your  instrument 
to  Aldeberan  !      You  perceive  the  same  peculiar   lines. 


4  THE  DIVINE  UNITY. 

Light  has  been  refracted  with  tlie  same  results,  and 
shown  to  be  the  same  in  the  lamp  and  in  the  star.  Ex- 
amine a  dew-drop  with  your  microscope  !  In  that  globe 
glittering  on  a  leaf  of  your  rose-bush  you  see  disclosed 
millions  of  minute  monsters  !  Point  your  telescope  to 
Sirius  !  You  pass  from  the  small  to  the  great,  from  the 
insignificant  to  the  magnificent,  from  a  leaf  on  your 
lawn  to  the  limit  of  the  universe  !  Yet  the  light-beam, 
in  its  reflections  and  refractions,  here,  there,  everywhere, 
is  governed  by  the  same  laws.  The  glow-worm  and  the 
moon,  the  rain -drop  and  the  planet,  the  gas-jet  in  your 
parlor  and  the  star  whose  rays  for  ages  have  been  trav- 
elling to  your  eye  exhibit  one  universal  mode  of  action. 
Thus  the  light  which  makes  earth  daily  visible,  and 
sparkles  nightly  in  the  heavens,  demonstrates  the  unity 
of  nature  through  her  illimitable  dominions. 

But  the  argument  is  intensified  if  we  accept  the  modern 
undulatory  theory.  Newton  supposed  that  luminous 
bodies  flash  forth  particles  of  their  substance,  which,  en- 
tering the  eye,  give  perceptions  of  objects.  Now  it  is  be- 
lieved that,  as  the  air  encircling  the  earth  by  waves  im- 
pinging the  ear  produces  sound,  so  a  luminiferous  ether 
pervading  the  universe  by  waves  impinging  the  eye  pro- 
duces sight.  Differences  of  color  are  caused  by  differences 
of  vibrations.  As  the  intensity  of  sound  increases  with 
the  amplitude  of  the  undulations  of  the  air,  thus  the  in- 
tensity of  sight  increases  wilh  the  amplitude  of  the  undu- 
lations of  the  ether.  A  liody  appears  white  when  it  reflects 
all  the  vibrations;  black,  when  it  reflects  none  of  the 
vibrations;  and  red,  orange,  yellow,  green,  blue,  indigo 
or  violet  in  the  solar  spectrum  in  the  proportion  of  its 
reflected  vibrations.  Science  even  tabulates  in  the  bil- 
lionths  of  an  inch  the  wave-lengths  of  the  luminiferous 
ether.     According  to  this  theory  we  have  the  universe 


THE  DIVINE   UNITY.  5 

clothed  with  a  marvellous  mantle,  itself  invisible,  yet  pen- 
etrating all,  enfolding  all,  displaying  all — at  the  centre 
and  at  the  circumference  of  nature — disclosing  the  same 
laws,  producing  the  same  results  and  revealing  the  ampli- 
tude of  the  creation  according  to  the  same  plan  through 
the  circuit  of  its  infinity. 

III.     THE  SAMENESS  OF  GRAVITATION    PROVES  THE  UNITY 
OF  THE  UNIVERSE. 

The  ancients  were  continually  seeking  for  the  cosmos 
a  common  principle,  but  they  reached  towards  a  mystery 
which  forever  baffled  them.  In  all  pertaining  to  form 
and  expression  they  excelled  ourselves.  It  was  when  they 
began  to  question  nature  about  force  and  law  that  they 
became  bewildered.  What  are  the  elements  ?  What  is 
the  earth?  What  is  the  sun?  What  are  the  stars?  Of 
all,  what  is  the  origin?  In  attempting  to  answer  these 
questions  ancient  philosophers  were  curious  children. 
To  the  populace  the  moon  was  a  god,  the  star  was  a  god, 
the  sun  was  a  god.  Our  earth  was  sometimes  considered 
as  an  animal  and  sometimes  as  a  divinity.  No  wisdom  of 
Chaldea,  Egypt,  Greece  or  Rome  could  explain  the  ter- 
restrial or  the  celestial  phenomena.  Thus,  age  after  age, 
the  ancients  wandered  on  in  a  hopeless  maze,  puzzled, 
awed,  confounded  before  the  mystery  of  the  creation, 
forever  speculating  and  forever  dissatisfied,  building  sys- 
tems only  to  destroy  them,  dreaming,  questioning,  discus- 
sing, yet  unable  to  penetrate  the  darkness  of  the  scheme 
of  the  universe.  Nature  seemed  to  hide  herself  in  an  eter- 
nal gloom.  AVas  she  not  contrived  to  baffle  her  inquirers  ? 
Men  saw  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars  revolving  about  the 
earth,  and,  believing  their  senses,  were  deceived.  It  is  not 
strange  that  the  multitude  parcelled  earth  and  sky  into 
innumerable  dominions  and  assigned  them  to  their  count- 
less   deities,    when    the    philosophers    during    centuries 


6  THE  DIVINE   UNITY. 

watched  and  mapped  the  heavens  without  being  able  to 
explain  a  single  celestial  movement.  Only  within  three 
hundred  years  has  the  veil  been  lifted.  Pythagoras  had  a 
glimmer  of  the  truth,  with  no  possible  means  of  establish- 
ing it.  Even  Copernicus,  who  suggested  the  true  system, 
did  not  produce  convincing  proofs.  He  placed  the  sun 
within  the  orbits  of  each  of  the  planets  but  not  at  the 
centres,  and  thus  while  the  distributor  of  light  he  had  no 
influence  on  motion.  Assisted  by  the  tables  of  Tycho 
Brahe  the  illustrious  Kepler  at  last  attained  the  truth. 
Yet,  misled  by  the  old  fancy  that  celestial  motions  must 
be  in  circles,  it  was  by  inspiration  rather  than  proof  he 
perceived  that  the  orbits  of  the  planets  must  be  ellipses, 
and  in  the  focus  of  each,  the  sun.  Soon  he  was  led  to  his 
wonderful  laws  of  the  celestial  revolutions.  One  thing 
remained.  What  causes  these  motions  of  satellites  about 
their  primaries  and  of  ])lanets  about  the  sun?  Whence 
these  stupendous  circlings  of  worlds  .''  Where  does  the 
power  reside?  Is  it  without?  Is  it  within  ?  Is  it  a 
familiar  force?  Is  it  an  undiscovered  energy?  It  was 
the  glory  of  Newton  to  answer  these  questions  and  estab- 
lish forever  the  unity  of  the  creation.  He  showed  that 
visible  about  us  every  moment  are  the  effects  of  that 
power  impelling  the  unnumbered  globes  of  our  immeas- 
urable universe.  Men  had  always  seen  it  and  never 
known  it.  The  infant  dashing  his  toy  to  the  floor  gave 
proof  of  its  existence.  The  boy  who  hurled  his  ball 
circling  through  the  air  was  a  witness  of  its  effects.  The 
apple  dropping  from  a  limb  felt  its  energy.  Each  insect, 
each  bird,  each  beast,  each  man,  each  tree  and  twig  and 
leaf,  the  sand-grain  on  the  ocean  shore  and  drop  within 
the  vast  abyss  were  subjects  of  its  sway.  Not  an  atom 
of  dust  in  a  sunbeam,  or  at  the  centre  or  circumference 
of  our  globe,  that  did  not  obey  the  force  controlling  the 


THE  DIVINE   UNITY.  7 

mightiest   spheres  of  the  universe.     A   triumph   of  our 
modern   science    has  been  to  show  that  the  mystery  of 
the  ages  was  to  be  solved  in  an  energy  known  to  all  men 
at  every  moment  of  their  lives,  and  which  actmg  thus 
visibly  and  familiarly  on  earth,  yet  operates  in  the  moon 
in  the  planets,  in  the  comets,  in  the  sun,  m  all  the  wor Ms 
of  space  at  all  tunes  and  in  all  places,  bmdmg  together 
the  universe  in  one  fellowship  of  existence.     Each  atom 
is  related  to  every  other  atom.     Each  globe  is  related  to 
every  other  globe.     Each  system  is  related  to  every  other 
system.    Science  thus  again  demonstrates  for  religion  the 
unity  of  the  creation. 

So  far  our  argument  has  been  strictly  along  the  path  of 
inductive  science.  We  now  pass  into  a  region  of  specu- 
lations which  are  almost  certainties. 

IV.    THE    SAMENESS    IN    ITS   SYSTEMS    PROVES    THE  UNITY 
OF  THE  UNIVERSE. 

The  fixed  stars  are  suns.    Shining  by  reflected  light  their 
rays  could  not  sparkle  through  immeasurable  distances. 
To  be  visible  in  such  brilliancy  they  must  be  vastly  larger 
and  brighter  than  our  own  splendid  orb  of  light  and  life 
Indeed  they  burn  and  shine  during  cycles,  magazines  of 
inexhaustible  flame.     In  some  cases  we  see  two,  three, 
even  four  turning  round  each  other.     Hence  the  conclu- 
sion that  about  these  as  central  suns  must  move  planets 
and  satellites,  like  our  own,  but  whose  light,  absorbed  in 
the  darkness  of  infinite  space,  is  invisible  even  to  the  tele- 
scope     As  we  have  proved  unity  in  molecules  and  unity 
in  masses,  we  thus  also  discover  unity  in  systems.     These 
are  numerous  as  the  sands  of  shores,  the  leaves  of  forests, 
the   drops   of  clouds,  the   waves   of   oceans,    and   their 
worlds  vastly  exceed  our  own  in  size  and  brilliancy.     Ac- 
cording to  one  common  method  we  have,  system  after 
system,  wheeling  and  glittering  over  the  creation. 


8  THE  DIVINE  UNITY. 

V.    THE     SAMENESS    IN     ITS    PROBABLE     EVOLUTION     INDI- 
CATES THE  UNITY  OV  THE  UNIVERSE. 

The  efforts  of  the  ancients  to  refer  the  cosmos  to  a 
common  principle  sprang  from  the  constitution  of  the 
human  mind,  which,  by  a  law,  would  resolve  the  many 
into  the  one.  They  erred,  not  in  aim,  but  in  method. 
Conclusions  were  deduced  from  insufficient  premises 
which  made  philosophy  contemptible.  But  by  a  different 
path  inductive  science  is  none  the  less  surely  leading  us 
onward  to  the  true  unity.  Of  this  the  nebular  hypothesis 
affords  us  proof.  Space  is  peopled  with  worlds  which, 
so  far  as  ascertained,  alike  in  elemental  constitution,  dif- 
fer widely  in  size,  shape,  density  and  appearance.  In 
our  own  system,  as  you  recede  from  the  sun  there  is  a 
diminution  in  density.  Comets,  which  move  into  space 
often  unestiniated  distances  from  their  centre,  are  com- 
posed largely  of  thin,  diffused  and  often  transparent  mat- 
ter. Also,  discernible  over  the  heavens  are  enormous 
nebulae  ever  changing  in  size  and  aspect,  and  which  seem 
formed  of  incandescent  gases.  Our  own  earth,  as  proved 
by  geology,  in  its  physical  structure  and  also  in  its  vege- 
table and  animal  life,  has  been  plainly  developed  from  a 
simpler  to  a  more  complex  condition,  and  gives  many 
evidences  of  having  passed  from  an  original  gaseous  to  a 
liquid,  and  then  to  its  present  solid  state.  Now  the  ro- 
tations of  a  nebulous  ether  about  its  axis  would  produce 
such  a  system  as  ours,  with  its  sun,  its  planets,  its  satellites, 
its  comets,  having  the  same  relations,  sizes,  forms,  densi- 
ties and  motions,  and  indeed  account  for  the  grand  geo- 
logical and  astronomical  conditions  of  our  globe.  It  is 
not,  therefore,  strange  that  all  the  worlds  of  the  universe 
should  be  conceived  as  emerging  from  the  revolutions  of 
this  i^ristine  matter  revealed  in  space  to  the  telescope, 
and  believed  to  constitute  the  storehouses  of  systems,  the 


THE  DIVINE  UNITY.  9 

magazines  of  the  creation,  and  from  which,  according  to 
the  same  laws,  by  the  same  methods,  and  with  the  same 
results  are  shaped  during  cycles  those  innumerable  spheres 
which  adorn  the  scheme  of  visible  nature.  Nor  is  this 
all.  What  we  esteem  elements  may  be  such  only  in  our 
ignorance  and  our  impotence.  More  powerful  agencies 
may  reduce  them  even  to  a  single  substance,  possibly,  it  is 
thought,  to  the  luminiferous  ether,  from  whose  delicate 
maternal  bosom,  therefore,  alone  the  whole  universe  may 
have  been  evolved.  Yet  more.  The  force  of  the  entire 
creation  is  now  supposed  to  be  a  unit — one  in  its  charac- 
ter and  invariable  in  its  sum — vanishing  here  to  appear 
yonder,  but  incapable  of  increase  or  diminution.  These 
are  indeed  speculations;  yet  they  are  prophecies'  of  the 
future,  and  show  the  tendencies  of  even  inductive  science 
towards  unity  as  the  crown  and  perfection  of  the  creation. 

VI.  THE  UNITY  OF  THE  UNIVERSE  IS  INTIMATED  BY 
ITS  SEEMING  REVOLUTION  ABOUT  SOME  COMMON 
CENTRE. 

Upon  this  sublime  speculation  I  will  not  dwell  as  an 
argument.  It  is  sufficient  to  mention  that  certain  celes- 
tial motions  strongly  show  that,  while  all  worlds  are  im- 
pelled by  the  same  gravitating  forces,  and  are  grouped 
in  the  same  fellowship  of  arrangements,  also,  all  systems 
together  throughout  illimitable  space  have  a  motion  about 
one  point  in  the  heavens,  which  has  even  been  boldly 
located  in  a  star  of  the  constellation  Hercules. 

Now  the  power  of  moving  such  a  universe  must  be  in- 
finite. Billions  on  billions  of  worlds  wheeling  and  rush- 
ing cycle  after  cycle!  In  our  own  planet  consider  the 
might  of  oceans,  earthquakes,  tempests,  volcanoes,  and 
then  the  less  violent  but  perhaps  greater  potencies  of 
electricity,  combustion,  steam,  and  vegetable  and  animal 
growth!      Columns  of  flame  dart  out  from  the  sun  one 


lO  THE  DIVINE  UNITY. 

hundred  thousand  miles.  The  aggregate  impelling  power 
of  such  a  creation  is  manifestly  infinite,  and  commensurate 
with  the  force  is  the  intelligence.  AVe  raise  now  no 
questions  of  personality  These  are  reserved  for  our 
next  lecture.  We  here  only  assert  that  modern  science 
leads  us  to  the  conclusion  that  the  proved  unity  of  plan 
in  this  illimitable  creation  implies  a  corresponding  unity 
in  some  infinite  power,  and  infinite  intelligence. 

But  this  precise  truth  is  involved  in  Christianity. 
Thus  far  Science  and  Scripture  harmonize.  Induction 
prepares  for  Revelation,  and  Revelation  amplifies  Induc- 
tion. They  are  one,  as  dawn  and  day.  The  unity  of  the 
force  and  the  intelligence  in  the  limitless  plan  of  nature 
is  the  conclusion  from  Science,  and  the  unity  of  the 
Being  who  supplies  the  force  and  intelligence  from  His 
own  infinitude  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures.  During 
fifteen  centuries  hear  their  constant,  their  consistent, 
their  sublime  testimony! 

"  The  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord.  For  thus  saith  the 
Lord  that  created  the  heavens — God  Himself  that  formed 
the  earth:     1  am  the  Lord;  there  is  none  else." 

Here,  however,  remark  that  while  science  and  Scrip- 
ture agree  in  the  unity  of  the  acting  force  in  universal 
nature,  they  are  at  this  very  point  opposed  by  all  the 
religious  systems  of  the  world  underived  from  Christi- 
anity. Not  even  a  philosophic  Pantheism  has  preserved 
its  disciples  from  idolatry.  While  a  few  intellectual 
dreamers  profess  faith  in  an  impersonal  and  unconscious 
Primal  Substance,  the  multitude  are  framing  for  them- 
selves gods  innumerable.  First  they  personify,  and  then 
they  adore  the  jjowers  of  nature.  Sun,  moon,  stars, 
rivers,  winds,  mountains,  trees,  birds,  fishes,  beasts,  rep- 
tiles, lightnings,  thunders — these  have  been  the  divinities 
of  men.     Yet  amid  this  universal  superstition,  the  scorn 


THE  DIVINE  UNITY.  1 1 

of  Science,  the  Bible  has  stood  a  witness  for  the  unity  of 
the  Creator.  The  oneness  of  the  Deity  is  the  glory  of 
the  Scripture. 

Nor  was  the  multiplication  of  gods  a  proof  of  intel- 
lectual inferiority.  The  sublime  pyramids  were  erected 
by  loathsome  idolaters.  Luxor,  matchless  in  grandeur, 
shed  the  glory  of  genius  over  the  adoration  of  beasts. 
The  noblest  temples  of  Egypt  enshrined  or  worshipped 
a  cat,  or  ox,  or  monkey,  or  crocodile.  All  the  splendid 
culture  of  the  land  gf  the  Nile  revolved  about  Polytheism. 
The  tower  of  Belus,  that  loftiest  wonder  of  the  world,  lifted 
its  flame  in  honor  of  the  Babylonian  sun-god.  AVHiat  has 
ever  exceeded  the  grandeur  of  the  Parthenon,  and  the 
majesty  of  the  Olympian  Jupiter.?  The  genius  of  Homer 
was  consecrated  to  the  deities  of  Greece.  Those  ancient 
classic  nations  whose  literature  we  imitate,  whose  art  we 
revere,  whose  achievements  we  emulate,  gave  their 
treasures  of  wealth  and  soul  to  the  magnificence  of  mul- 
tiplied gods. 

Yet  in  protest  against  both  the  culture  and  the  ignorance 
of  Polytheism,  the  Scriptures,  before  the  grand  nations  of 
antiquity,  were  the  sole  witnesses  to  the  unity  of  the 
Deity.  And  in  their  doctrine  of  unity  they  are  con- 
firmed by  all  the  discoveries  of  Science,  which  has  as- 
sisted Christianity  in  hurling  from  their  temples  both 
the  classic  and  tiie  popular  gods.  With  every  triumph 
of  inductive  research,  from  tlie  earth  round  the  circum- 
ference of  the  universe,  we  have  the  same  ever-increasing 
testimony  to  a  fundamental  truth  of  the  Bible.  Among 
the  deities  of  Babylon,  and  Egypt,  and  Greece,  and 
Rome,  and  India,  and  China,  except  where  genius  or  tra- 
dition gives  a  glimpse  of  the  Hebrew  Jehovah,  nothing 
accords  with  the  grandeur  of  such  an  impersonal  creative 
force  as  our  atheistic  science  would  accept.     Yet  in  the 


12  THE  DIVINE   UNITY. 

Bible  all  descriptions  surpass  even  the  conceptions  of 
modern  research.  How  does  this  happen?  The  Book 
of  Job  preceded  the  Iliad  of  Homer  by  more  than  five 
centuries.  Moses  wrote  hundreds  of  years  before  Hesiod. 
The  Psalms  of  David,  breathing  and  burning  with  pious 
adoration  to  Jehovah,  were  older  than  the  immortal  odes 
of  Pindar.  Isaiah  penned  his  prophecies,  and  proclaimed 
the  majesty  of  the  one  God  before  ^.schylus  and 
Sophocles  and  Euripides  consecrated  their  genius  to  the 
Grecian  divinities,  and  made  the  Athenian  theatre  the 
pulpit  of  the  Athenian  idolatry.  The  Proverbs  and  Canti- 
cles of  Solomon  antedated  the  wit  and  music  of  Horace, 
while  the  predictions  of  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  were  old 
when  the  epic  of  Virgil  pleased  Augustus  and  delighted 
Rome.  The  majestic  descriptions  of  the  Scripture,  be- 
gun in  the  morning  of  the  world,  before  Art,  before 
Literature,  before  Science,  before  Philosophy,  are  yet 
such  as  Art,  and  TJteraturc,  and  Science,  and  Philosophy 
will  forever  admire,  and  can  never  approach. 

How  does  this  occur?  Suppose  science  should  ad- 
vance her  conclusions  from  an  impersonal  evolving  force 
to  a  personal  creating  God;  could  she  then  discover  an 
attribute  unrevealed  in  the  Bible?  Let  her  reach  the 
ideal  of  her  attainment;  let  her  carry  us  round  the  circle 
of  the  earth;  let  her  explain  from  centre  to  circumference 
the  laws  of  a  universe;  will  she  ever  transcend  the  sub- 
limity of  the  sacred  writers?  Not  if  to  the  triumphs  of 
inductive  research  she  should  add  the  loftiest  inspirations 
of  human  poetry.  Can  she  exceed  eternity?  Can  she 
surpass  omnipresence,  omniscience,  omnipotence?  Can 
she  exalt  herself  above  llie  wisdom,  the  love,  the  justice, 
the  holiness  of  Jehovah  as  revealed  in  the  Scripture  and 
manifested  in  the  universe?  Forever  above  her  will  be 
the  Infinite  and  the  Everlasting  God.     As  unfolded  in 


THE  DIVINE  UNITY.  1 3 

the  Hebrew  oracles,  the  Divine  Nature  is  beyond  the 
measure  of  human  capacity  and  the  march  of  human 
progress.  The  descriptions  of  Moses,  the  delineations  of 
David,  the  sublimities  of  Isaiah,  the  conceptions  of  St. 
Paul,  above  all,  the  simple,  touching,  and  majestic  words 
of  Jesus  Christ,  produced,  some  before  the  dawn,  others 
in  the  twilight  of  science,  not  only  may  express  the 
devotions  of  a  Bacon,  a  Newton,  and  a  Herschel,  but 
are  worthy  the  worship  of  the  most  exalted  intelligences 
ever  depicted  in  the  glory  everlasting. 

What  is  the  explanation?  Whence  this  wisdom  resid- 
ing alone  in  the  sacred  writers?  Against  all  the  idola- 
tries of  all  the  ages  of  all  the  world,  why  does  the  Bible, 
in  language  of  such  power,  beauty,  comprehensiveness 
and  majesty,  inculcate  a  belief  in  the  unity  of  an  infinite 
Power?  And  this  testimony  is  being  every  moment  estab- 
lished by  every  advance  of  science,  where,  had  the  teach- 
ing been  in  conformity  to  the  other  religions  of  mankind, 
they  would  have  exposed  Christianity  to  certain  over- 
throw. I  will  not  say  that  this  fact  alone  is  proof  of  the 
truth.  But  I  will  affirm  that  it  is  a  potent  presumption 
in  favor  of  the  inspiration  and  authority  of  the  Scriptures 
as  divine  oracles  communicated  to  man  by  God. 


14  PERSONALITY  OF  GOD. 


LECTURE  II. 

PERSONALITY  OF  GOD. 

IN  each  of  us  is  a  characteristic  something  which  dis- 
tinguishes from  every  other  being  in  the  universe. 
We  must  discriminate  between  the  fact  and  our  con- 
sciousness of  the  fact.  After  considering  the  former,  we 
will  attempt  to  analyze  the  latter. 

Each  man  is  a  purposed  and  peculiar  part  of  this  vast 
creation.  He  appears  at  a  certain  time,  under  certain 
circumstances,  with  certain  endowments,  and  in  certain 
relations,  which  neVer  happened  before,  and  which  will 
never  occur  again.  As  distinguished  from  all  others,  his 
being,  his  history,  his  character  are  his  own.  From  his 
conception  to  his  birth,  and  onward  to  any  point  of  his 
development,  he  has  in  himself  indelible  marks  which  fix 
his  personality.  But  where  does  this  mysterious  prop- 
erty reside?  In  his  senses?  Destroy  these !  He  sur- 
vives. In  his  limbs?  Amputate  them  all!  He  remains. 
Take  away  every  portion  of  his  body  up  to  the  last  pos- 
sibility of  life!  He  is  still  himself.  Deprive  him  of 
memory,  reason,  volition.  Let  passion,  desire,  appetite, 
affection,  fade  or  rage  within  him!  His  personality  has 
not  perished.  You  may  call  him  lame,  or  deaf,  or 
dumb,  or  halt,  or  blind,  or  idiot,  or  lunatic,  yet,  while  he 
lives,  he  is  himself,  and  the  law  will  recognize  his  exist- 
ence and  guard  his  rights.  His  personality,  then,  is 
not  in  his  senses,  his  limbs,  his  estate,  his  reputation,  or 
even  in  his  passions,  his  affections,  his  volitions,  his  intel- 


PERSONAL/TV  OF  GOD.  1 5 

lections.  It  is  behind  tliem  all.  What  uses  his  senses, 
controls  his  limbs,  directs  his  choice,  originates  his 
thoughts,  and  amid  the  wrecks  of  the  accidents  of  the 
man  is  yet  himself?  Can  we  discover  that  in  him  which 
thinks,  and  feels,  and  wills,  and  moves?  Then  may  we 
reach  his  personality. 

I  look  within  and  without;  I  recall  my  history  from 
my  earliest  recollections;  I  survey  the  universe  within 
the  circle  of  my  vision.  All  has  changed.  I  am  myself. 
My  form  has  enlarged;  my  features  are  different;  every 
atom  of  my  body  has  been  renewed;  yet,  amid  these  per- 
petual, although  insensible,  revolutions  my  personality  is 
untouched.  Earth,  sea,  air,  planet,  sun,  moon,  stars — the 
universe — has  been  one  ceaseless  transition.  I  have  not 
perished  in  the  eternal  change.  The  same  conscious 
person,  I  preserve  my  identity  with  a  tenacity  which  is 
indestructible. 

Nor  is  my  conviction  only  from  recollection.  It  is 
deeper  than  memory.  The  events  of  my  life  seem  al- 
most traced  in  the  soul  itself  and  wrought  into  its  texture. 
Great  facts  of  personal  history,  unlike  the  atmospheric 
particles  which  make  a  mere  mechanical  mixture,  rather 
resemble  the  oxygen  of  the  air  which  enters  chemically 
into  the  circulation  to  be  incorporated  with  every  part  of 
the  physical  system. 

Here  is  the  phenomenon  we  are  to  explain.  I  am,  and 
that  I  who  am  have  been  my  conscious  self  I  know,  and 
only  annihilation  can  destroy  my  conviction.  Born  amid 
the  infantine  efforts  of  my  will  to  overcome  the  inertia 
of  external  matter,  my  personality  is  an  ineradicable 
fact  of  the  universe.  If  I  exist  forever,  it  will  share  my 
immortality. 

Psychology  must  build  on  this  Selfhood  as  a  founda- 
tion.    Nor  is  she  peculiar  in  taking  for  granted  such  a 


l6  PERSONALITY  OF  GOD. 

fact  as  the  basis  of  her  structure.  The  whole  fabric  of 
mathematical  science  rests  on  definitions  and  axioms 
which  you  believe  without  argument,  because  you  are  so 
constituted  that  you  cannot  help  believing.  Nor  are  the 
physical  sciences  different.  You  say  that  they  depend  on 
observation  and  experiment.  On  what  do  observation  and 
experiment  depend-i*  On  the  testimony  of  your  senses. 
Reject  these,  and  even  the  inductive  sciences  are  for  you 
delusive  shadows.  Nay;  receive  any  possible  system  of 
truth,  or  of  falsehood!  Why  do  you  believe  it.?  Because 
your  reason  has  been  satisfied.  You  then  in  this  and  in 
every  conclusion  postulate  the  right  constitution  of  your 
intellectual  nature,  and  the  stability  of  the  order  of  the 
universe.  Deny  the  reliability  of  your  healthy  faculties, 
and  you  abandon  yourself  to  doubt,  darkness  and  de- 
spair. Your  existence  is  a  misery  and  a  failure.  Science 
is  impossible;  philosophy  is  impossible;  society  is  impos- 
sible; moral  improvement  is  impossible.  Belief  in  your 
personality  is  at  the  root  of  your  being.  Destroy  that  and 
you  are  lost  in  the  vastness  of  the  darkness  of  this  wide, 
and  wonderful,  and  fearful  universe. 

Here  coincide  the  conclusions  of  the  philosopher  and 
the  belief  of  the  multitude.  The  faith  of  mankind,  how= 
ever  blind,  is  not  to  be  despised.  It  has  always  some 
element  of  truth.  Philosophy  instead  of  being  opposed 
to  common- sense  is  the  flower  of  its  perfection  devel- 
oped by  discipline  and  study.  The  man  with  science  and 
the  man  without  science  are  not  so  much  fundamentally 
different  in  their  opinions  as  in  the  fact  that  the  one  can 
give  reasons  for  his  principles;  can  discriminate  and 
generalize  and  classify;  can  unfold  his  system  in  its  order, 
and  interpret  it  in  its  relations;  while  the  other,  however 
correct  in  his  views,  holds  them  crudely  and  confusedly, 
without  ability  to  arrange,  defend,  and  expound.     That 


PERSONALITY  OF  GOD.  1/ 

Philosophy  makes  itself  suspected  as  shallow  and  con- 
temptible which  would  gain  reputation  by  sneering  at 
the  common-sense  of  mankind. 

We  have  thus  ascertained  our  Personality  to  be  an 
indubitable  and  indestructible  fact.  It  reaches  to  the 
roots  of  our  being.  It  affects  all  human  beliefs.  It 
colors  our  philosophy,  our  religion,  our  lives.  Indeed,  it 
is  at  the  basis  of  all  knowledge. 

Now  we  advance  to  analyze  the  Consciousness  of  our 
Personality.  In  such  an  inquiry  correctness  and  certi- 
tude are  of  inestimable  value.  Permit  me,  then,  first  to 
show  you  how  wide  and  how  wild  the  contradictions  on 
the  subject. 

Locke  confounds  Perception  and  Reflection,  and  as- 
cribes to  them  the  same  operations  now  usually  referred 
to  Consciousness.  He  says,  *'  The  other  fountain  from 
which  Experience  furnisheth  the  understanding  is  the 
Perception  of  the  operations  of  our  minds  within  us." 
Almost  in  the  same  words  he  defines  Reflection  as  "  that 
notice  the  mind  takes  of  its  own  operations." 

Dr.  Thomas  Reed,  so  far  as  he  goes,  is  always  clear, 
precise,  and  consistent.  "  Consciousness,"  he  says,  "is 
a  word  used  by  philosophers  to  signify  that  immediate 
knowledge  which  we  have  of  our  present  thoughts  and 
purposes,  and  in  general  of  all  the  operations  of  our 
minds."  On  the  contrary  he  invariably  applies  Percep- 
tion to  external  objects. 

According  to  Sir  William  Hamilton,  "  Consciousness  is 
the  knowledge  that  I,  that  the  Ego  exists  in  some  deter- 
minate state — an  act  of  knowledge  may  be  expressed  by 
the  formula,  I  know;  an  act  of  Consciousness  by  the 
formula,  I  know  that  I  know." 

Yet  having  thus,  like  Reed,  confined  Consciousness  to 
our  mental  operations,  he  afterwards  makes  it  identical 


1 8  PERSONALITY  OF  GOD. 

with  Perception  where  he  says,  "  Perception,  or  the  Con- 
sciousness of  external  objects,  is  the  first  power  in  order." 

Stranger  than  all,  after  denying  that  Consciousness  is  a 
special  faculty,  and  calling  it  a  general  faculty,  he  sepa- 
rates the  Presentative  Faculty,  by  a  complete  reversal  of 
his  original  definition  into  External  Self  Consciousness 
and  Internal  Perception. 

Dr.  Mark  Hopkins  affirms  "  Consciousness  to  be  the 
knowledge  by  the  mind  of  itself  as  the  permanent  and  in- 
divisible subject  of  its  own  operations."  This  is  the 
truth,  but  1  think,  as  we  shall  see,  not  the  whole  truth. 
In  its  popular  sense  tlie  word  "  subject  "  is  passive;  in  its 
philosophical  meaning  it  may  imply,  yet  does  not  ex- 
press, the  two  distinctive  elements  which  characterize  the 
testimony  of  Consciousness. 

In  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  laxit)  of  definition  reaches  its 
greatest  attainable  limit.  His  treatment  of  Perception 
and  Consciousness  is  a  psychological  marvel.  He  con- 
founds them  utterly.  "  As  foregoing  chapters,"  he  re- 
marks, "  have  made  sufficiently  manifest,  the  term  Per- 
ception is  applied  to  mental  states  infinitely  varied,  and 
widely  different  in  their  nature.  It  will  be  abundantly 
manifest  that  the  state  of  Consciousness  which  we  call 
Perception  is  scarcely  ever  discontinuous  with  its  like." 

With  all  the  assurance  of  perfect  knowledge  Mr. 
Spencer  speaks  of  the  consciousness  of  a  fish,  and  even 
of  an  organism. 

Yet  while  Mr.  Spencer  ascribes  Consciousness  to  a 
gnat,  Hartmann  denies  it  to  the  Deity,  styling  his  system 
the  "  Philosophy  of  the  Unconscious."  You  see  how 
appalling  is  this  confusion.  From  a  conscious  gnat  to  an 
unconscious  deity  is  a  wide  range  of  difference. 

Amid  tliis  darkness  the  first  step  towards  light  is  a 
clear  and  invariable  distinction  between  Perception  and 


rERSONALITY  OF  GOD.  1 9 

Consciousness.  This  arises  from  the  nature  of  things 
and  is  a  philosophical  necessity.  My  knowledge  of  the 
external  world  differs  intrinsically  from  my  knowledge  of 
the  internal  world.  In  the  first  the  object  is  matter  and 
in  the  second  the  object  is  spirit.  In  the  first  my  senses 
are  employed;  in  the  second  my  senses  are  excluded. 
In  the  first  the  intelligence  is  involuntary,  while  in  the 
second  the  intelligence  is  compelled.  Here  are  psychi- 
cal acts  opposite  in  object,  opposite  in  method,  ojjposite 
in  result.  The  words  denoting  them  should  be  corre- 
spondingly different,  and  no  terms  can  be  more  significant 
and  convenient  than  Perception  and  Consciousness. 
Representing  the  poles  of  our  knowledge,  they  should 
never  be  confounded.  Perception  should  always  be  ap- 
plied to  the  soul  as  knowing  what  is  without,  and  Con- 
sciousness to  the  soul  as  knowing  what  is  within.  Other- 
wise truth  is  wounded  and  the  confusion  inextricable. 

Having  thus  prepared  the  way,  I  will  define  Conscious- 
ness as  that  Function  by  7i<hich  the  soul  knows  itself  in  its 
operations  as  the  causative  personality  expressed  by  the  pro- 
noun I. 

As  Consciousness  embraces  all  our  faculties,  to  mark 
its  high  estate  and  distinguish  it  from  all  the  other  facul- 
ties I  have  called  it  not  a  Faculty  but  a  Function. 

Within  me  is  a  current  of  thoughts,  feelings,  and  voli- 
tions. These  I  can  arrest,  inspect,  analyze.  Let  me  be- 
gin! I  am  looking  at  a  star.  Its  brilliancy  absorbs  my 
soul.  Fixed  in  my  attention  I  perceive  only  the  dazzling 
object.  Of  the  intellectual  processes  in  the  operation  1 
remark  nothing.  But  now  I  withdraw  my  attention  from 
the  star,  and  fix  it  on  my  soul.  In  the  act  of  analyzing 
the  operation  by  which  I  perceived  the  star,  the  operation 
itself  is  gliding  back  into  the  past.  Nor  can  it  be  other- 
wise.    At  the  same  moment  I  cannot  notice  the  object  of 


20  PERSONALITY  OF  GOD. 

my  perception,  and  study  the  process  of  my  perception. 
My  soul  is  a  unit.  It  cannot  divide  itself.  It  passes 
with  inconceivable  swiftness  from  perception  to  per- 
ceiver,  and  back  from  perceiver  to  perception,  but  in  the 
operation  perception  and  perceiver  are  left  in  the  past. 
Where  either  is  afterwards  considered,  it  must  be  in 
Memory. 

Similar  remarks  apply  to  every  Faculty  of  the  Soul. 
Should  I  occupy  myself  with  a  recollection  of  Memory, 
with  a  picture  of  the  Imagination,  with  a  deduction  of 
the  Reason,  a  volition,  a  passion,  an  emotion,  with  any 
psychical  process  whatever,  the  attempt  to  analyze  con- 
signs to  the  past  the  process  introspected.  Thus  what  is 
usually  styled  Consciousness  is  in  truth  Memory. 
Through  Memory  I  study  the  psychical  process  I  would 
explain.  The  soul  analyzes  its  operations  through  Mem- 
ory. We  have  not  yet  approached  Consciousness.  This 
testifies  not  to  the  operation,  but  to  the  causative  person- 
ality of  the  soul  in  the  operation. 

All  in  me  is  from  what  is  expressed  by  the  pronoun  I. 
That  I  is  the  radiating  point  of  each  act  of  my  being. 
All  thoughts,  feelings,  volitions  come  from  the  I  surely 
as  rays  from  the  sun.  If  I  do  not  know  this  I  know 
nothing.  Let  my  limbs  move,  my  hands  strike,  my  eyes 
see,  my  ears  hear,  my  lips  taste,  my  nostrils  smell,  my 
fingers  grasp!  How  do  I  express  these  acts?  I  move! 
I  strike!  I  see!  I  hear!  I  taste!  I  smell!  I  grasp! 
Nor  is  it  otherwise  with  the  Feelings.  Love,  hate,  joy, 
grief,  appetite,  desire  are  inseparable  from  a  personality. 
I  love!  I  hate!  I  rejoice!  I  hunger!  I  thirst!  I 
covet !  Similarly  with  the  Will.  I  choose  !  I  determine! 
I  resolve!  Turn  now  to  the  Intellect!  I  remember!  I 
imagine  !  I  reason  !  In  every  possible  act  of  the  body 
and  of  the  soul  we  express  ourselves  in  terms  of  the  I  as 


PERSONALITY  OF  GOD.  21 

a  personal  cause.  To  this  we  are  compelled  by  the  consti- 
tution of  our  being.  It  is  a  universal  necessity.  The 
language  of  mankind  bears  perpetual  testimony  to  this 
consciousness  of  personal  causative  agency  in  all  that 
each  member  of  the  human  family  thinks,  and  feels, 
and  wills,  and  does  in  every  moment  of  his  waking 
existence. 

This  is  the  belief  of  the  race.  Men  know  that  in  their 
acts  they  are  themselves.  In  all  the  I  is  the  originating 
and  governing  force.  It  intrudes  itself  into  the  very  dis- 
courses of  the  philosophers  while  attempting  its  annihila- 
tion. Yet  the  effort  to  extinguish  his  personality  began 
early  in  the  history  of  man.  Carved  into  the  monuments 
of  the  Nile,  it  is  older  than  the  pyramids.  From  Egypt  it 
passed  into  India,  into  China,  into  Greece,  into  Rome, 
into  the  Mediaeval  Church.  And  occidental  philosophers 
are  reviving  the  oriental  dream  !  Well  have  Hume,  and 
Mill,  and  Hartmann  known  that  on  our  definitions  of 
Personality  and  Consciousness  must  be  fought  the  last 
grand  battle  of  Philosophy  and  Religion. 

To  illustrate  and  establish  my  assertion  I  will  proceed 
to  examine  some  of  the  statements  of  these  plausible  and 
often  fascinating  writers. 

Mr.  Hume  defines  mind  "  to  be  nothing  but  a  heap  or 
collection  of  different  impressions  united  together  by  dif- 
ferent relations;"  and  Mr.  Mill  says,  "  Mind  is  a  series  of 
feelings  with  a  belief  in  the  permanent  possibility  of  the 
feelings." 

Feelings!  Impressions!  No  thought!  No  choice! 
No  resolve!  Selfhood  unrecognized!  Personality  elim- 
inated !  Even  our  feelings  and  impressions  united  by 
relations!  We  have  already  shown  that  our  conscious 
personality  gives  unity  to  all  the  operations  of  the  soul, 
and  the  movements  of  the  body. 


22  PERSONALITY  OF  GOD. 

What  bears  testimony  even  to  tlie  feelings,  impres- 
sions, and  relations?  Mr.  Hume  and  Mr.  Mill  answer 
— Consciousness.  But  is  this  its  whole  testimony  ?  The 
witness  is  in  court,  and  cannot  be  impeached  by  those 
calling,  nor  dismissed  without  cross-examination.  Nor 
can  Mr.  Hume  divide  Consciousness.  He  must  not  take 
part  of  its  testimony,  and  refuse  the  otlier  part.  If  he 
accepts  a  part  he  must  accept  the  whole.  Now,  does  my 
Consciousness  testify  that  my  soul  is  but  a  succession  of 
feelings,  ideas,  sensations  and  impressions  united  by  re- 
lations ?  Consciousness  also  witnesses  to  the  I  in  all  my 
possible  movements.  And  if  I  receive  the  evidence  of 
Consciousness  to  the  operation,  I  must  receive  the  evi- 
dence of  Consciousness  to  the  o])erator,  and  believe  that 
where  there  is  a  thought  there  is  a  thinker,  and  where 
there  is  a  will  there  is  a  wilier,  and  where  there  is  motion 
there  is  a  mover.  I  am  not,  then,  an  impalpable  succes- 
sion of  ideas,  impressions,  feelings,  relations.  I  am  a 
cause.     I  am  an  agent.     I  am  a  Person. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  application  of  our  prin- 
ciples. 

Over  the  world,  in  all  ages,  are  discoverable  the  traces 
of  an  original  monotheism.  Modern  research  enables  us 
to  begin  our  proof  in  Egypt.  On  the  scroll  of  a  papyrus 
found  in  a  tomb  is  the  record  of  a  creed  more  ancient 
than  either  Pantheism,  or  Polytheism.  "  Nuk-pu  nuk  " 
— I  am  whom  I  am— vthe  very  words  afterwards  recorded 
as  spoken  to  Moses  fr^m  the  flame  of  the  bush. 

In  the  Assyrian  PantiXeon  Asshur  was  sometimes  wor- 
shipped as  the  one  Suprc^iie  God,  with  all  the  attributes 
of  intense  personality. 

India,  in  the  song  of  herVDravidians  bears  testimony 
to  a  faith  older  than  the  oXeam  of  Boodh.  Hear  the 
wonderful  words: 


PERSONALITY  OF  GOD.  23 

"  God  the  Omniscient  fills  all  space, 

And  time  ;  He  cannot  die  nor  end.     In  Him 
All  things  ejcist.     There  is  no  God  but  He; 
He  hath  no  end,  nor  had  beginning.     He 
Is  one,  inseparate.     To  Him  alone 
Should  mortals  offer  praise  and  prayer." 

Before  atheistic  Confucianism,  and  polytheistic  Tauism 
was  also  in  China  a  primitive  Monotheism. 

Nor  does   Greece  refuse  to   witness.      The  words  ot 
Sophocles  sound  like  those  of  a  Hebrew  Prophet: 
"■One,  in  very  truth;  God  is  one 
Who  made  the  heavens  and  the  far-stretching  sea, 
The  deep's  blue  billow,  and  the  might  of  winds." 

The  Roman  Sibyl  also  gave  her  voice  to  celebrate  the 
unity  and  the  personality  of  the  Deity: 
"  Know  and  lay  up  wisdom  in  your  hearts. 

There  is  one  God  who  sends  rains,  and  winds,  and  earthquakes, 

Thunderbolts,  famines,  plagues  and  dismal  sorrows. 

Over  Heaven  He  rules  and  Earth,  and  truly  is." 

But  in  every  land  and  in  every  age  is  developed  a  ten- 
dency among  philosophers  to  deny  the  divine  person- 
ality and  thus  relapse  into  Pantheism;  and  among  the 
multitude  to  deny  the  divine  unity,  and  thus  relapse  into 
Polytheism.  Uniformly  the  thinkers  arc  drawn  to  one 
pole,  and  the  thoughtless  to  the  other.  Humanity  moves 
round  this  perpetual  circle. 

Where  the  soul  is  made  a  mere  succession  of  ideas, 
nature  is  made  a  mere  succession  of  events.  This  is  a 
universal  law.  If  causation  and  personality  be  denied  to 
man,  causation  and  personality  will  be  denied  to  God. 
Is  the  great  end  in  sweeping  away  second  causes  to 
obliterate  the  First  Cause,  and  thus  our  moral  responsi- 
bility? Man,  therefore,  would  develop  from  nature  as 
a   flower  whose   bloom   through    decay    returns   to    the 


24  PERSONALITY  OF  GOD. 

maternal  bosom;  or  he  resembles  the  bubble  which  floats 
and  glitters  and  bursts,  lost  forever  in  the  vastness  of  the 
ocean.  A  necessary  emanation,  he  thus  conveniently 
has  no  more  accountability  than  the  unconscious  bubble, 
or  impersonal  flower. 

In  Egypt  those  opposites,  Pantheism  and  Polytheism, 
existed  in  their  most  intense  and  exaggerated  forms. 
Two  centuries  since,  in  his  "  Intellectual  System  of  the 
Universe,"  Ralph  Cudworth,  Master  of  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge,  lifted  the  veil  from  the  philosophic  creed  of 
the  land  of  the  Pharaohs.  In  his  pages  you  discover 
how  similar  is  the  Pantheism  of  all  ages.  The  following 
testimony  preserved  by  Cudworth  expresses  the  philo- 
sophic tendencies  of  ancient  Egypt  and  of  modern  Ger- 
many: 

"For  what  shall  I  praise  Thee?  for  those  things  which 
Thou  hast  made.-"  Or  for  those  things  Thou  hast  not 
made?  Thou  art  whatsoever  I  am;  Thou  art  whatsoever 
I  do,  or  say;  for  Thou  art  all  things,  and  there  is  nothing 
which  Thou  art  not;  Thou  art  that  which  is  made,  and 
Thou  art  that  which  is  not,  made — and  in  this  universe 
there  is  nothing  which  He  is  not." 

Now  Moses  was  educated  in  the  palace  of  Pharaoh, 
who  was  at  once  monarch  and  hierarch.  Priests  were 
teachers  of  the  young  Hebrew.  He  was  instructed  in  all 
the  occult  wisdom  of  Egypt.  From  his  youth  he  was 
familiar  with  the  philosophic  Pantheism  and  the  popular 
Polytheism.  Opposed  to  both  were  the  traditions  of  his 
race.  Of  the  Unity  and  the  Personality  of  Jehovah 
Moses,  before  the  world,  was  the  elected  witness.  To 
him  more  impressive  than  fire,  or  cloud,  or  tempest,  or 
thunder  were  the  first  significant  words  of  the  Decalogue! 

"I  am  the  Lord  thy  God;  thou  shalt  have  no  other 
gods  but  Me." 


PERSONALITY  OF  GOD.  2$ 

Observe  the  pronouns.  They  are  characteristic  of  the 
Bible.  I!  Me!  These  are  the  tokens  of  Personality.  This 
I  is  the  source  of  the  Moral  Law.  That  monosyllable  dis- 
tinguishes the  Creature  from  the  Creator,  and  affirms  the 
obligation  of  the  creature.  In  a  simple  letter  is  the  root 
of  our  personal  allegiance  to  the  personal  sovereign  of 
the  universe.  Here  is  the  protest  against  Pantheism,  while 
Polytheism  finds  its  rebuke  in  the  words,  "  Thou  shalt 
have  no  other  gods  but  Me." 

This  suggests  the  grand  peculiarity  of  the  Scriptures. 
They  testify  forever  against  the  superstition  which  adores 
many  gods,  and  against  the  philosophy  which  making  all 
god,  makes  no  god  at  all.  Sublimely  do  the  simple  per- 
sonal pronouns  represent  the  majesty  of  the  universe. 

As  in  a  previous  lecture  we  have  shown  that  the  bib- 
lical declarations  of  the  Divine  Unity  are  supported 
by  Science,  we  now  propose  to  prove  that  the  biblical 
declarations  of  the  Divine  Personality  are  supported  by 
Philosophy. 

The  question  is  not  how  the  idea  of  God  originated. 
Whether  from  man  himself,  or  from  external  nature,  or 
from  Revelation  are  not  our  present  inquiries.  Ours  is 
not  now  to  grope  amid  the  traditions  of  the  past,  but  to 
show  in  the  light  of  Psychology  that  the  scriptural  doc- 
trine of  the  Personality  of  God  is  in  accordance  with 
philosophic  truth. 

Thought  excites  thought.  Neither  words,  nor  marble, 
nor  color  stimulate  the  soul.  These  are  powerless  ex- 
cept as  interpreters  of  thought.  A  rough  stone  awakens 
slight  interest.  Carve  it  into  a  statue!  Instantly  it  kin- 
dles you  into  an  intellectual  glow!  A  mountain-quarry 
scarce  attracts  your  notice.  Build  its  blocks  into  a 
temple!  You  are  thrilled  with  the  sublimest  emotions. 
Similarly  you  are  affected  when  the  shapeless  iron  is  con- 


26  PERSONALITY  OF  GOD. 

verted  into  the  productive  machine,  or  the  solitary  wil- 
derness into  the  populous  city.  In  the  creations  of  his 
skill,  the  thought  of  the  maker  awakens  your  own  thought, 
and  in  proportion  to  the  power  of  the  originating  thought 
is  the  power  of  the  excited  thought. 

Turn  now  from  Art  to  Nature  !  How  does  she  affect 
us?  As  nothing  else  she  quickens  and  expands  the  intel- 
lect. Tame  and  poor  the  impressions  of  the  works  of 
man  compared  with  the  impressions  of  the  universe  of  the 
Creator.  Wide  over  its  boundless  extent  philosophers 
question  it,  and  analyze  it,  and  classify  it,  and  tell  you 
that  what  they  know  is  as  a  cipher  to  infinity  compared 
with  what  they  can  never  know.  Does  thought  alone 
stimulate  thought.?  Then  must  the  living  thoughts  in 
nature  lure  on  to  eternal  discoveries. 

But  with  thought  is  also  force;  and  always  the  thought 
directs  the  force.  Through  force  the  thought  finds  ex- 
pression. The  thought  and  the  force  are  inseparable, 
and  both  partake  the  unity,  and  the  infinity  of  nature. 
Travel  to  her  farthest  realms;  search  all  her  atoms;  ex- 
plore all  her  worlds — Thought  and  Force  are  everywhere. 
They  rule  the  universe.  It  has  its  key  in  Power,  and  Intel- 
ligence. 

What  is  theii  source?  In  the  molecules  of  matter? 
These  move,  indeed,  through  electricity,  through  mag- 
netism, through  gravity,  through  chemical  attraction, 
through  vegetable  force,  and  mere  blind  animal  energy. 
But  plainly  they  obey  a  Power  and  Intelligence  they 
never  originate.  In  itself  matter  is  inert.  And  if  Power 
and  Intelligence  hat-e  not  their  source  in  atoms,  they 
cannot  have  their  source  in  masses,  which  are  simply  ag- 
gregated atoms.  To  what  then  must  I  refer  the  Power 
and  the  Intelligence  working  together  through  the  uni- 
verse?    I  wish  to  find  tiieir  author,  and  I  hear  a  voice 


PERSONALITY  OF  GOD.  2/ 

from  all  the  elements  of  material  nature  exclaiming,  "not 
unto  us,  not  unto  us,  not  unto  us,  be  this  glory." 

Now  I  look  into  myself.  My  limbs  and  my  organs  obey 
my  soul.  I  can  direct  electricity,  overcome  gravity,  control 
magnetism,  command  chemical  affinity,  nullify  vegetable 
and  animal  action,  master  molecules  and  masses.  I  am 
a  source  of  thought  and  force.  My  intellect  originates 
intelligence,  and  my  will  originates  power.  I  can  lift 
matter,  hurl  matter,  weigh  matter,  divide  matter,  and 
through  my  body  and  my  soul  impress  on  matter  my  own 
power  and  intelligence.  Here  is  a  phenomenon  to  be 
considered.  I  am  a  cause.  I  am  an  agent.  I  am  a 
person.  And  only  in  a  person  do  I  perceive  this  ability 
to  originate  power  and  intelligence.  By  a  resistless  an- 
alogy, reasoning  from  myself,  I  ascribe  to  a  Person  the 
Power  and  the  Intelligence  of  the  universe;  and  since 
the  Power  and  Intelligence  of  the  universe  are  infinite, 
the  Person  in  whom  they  inhere  must  be  infinite,  and  this 
leads  me  directly  to  the  doctrine  of  my  Bible. 

And  surely  I  may  innocently  ask,  if  within  the  circle 
of  my  limited  capacities  to  think  and  feel  and  will— if 
with  my  infantine  ability  to  impress  myself  on  my  di- 
minutive machine— if  I,  a  point  in  this  amplitude  of  the 
creation,  yet  know  that  in  all  my  thoughts,  purposes, 
resolves,  affections,  passions,  achievements,  I  am  ever  a 
conscious  Personality — to  Him  who  must  possess  in  the 
infinitude  of  their  perfection  the  attributes  I  exert  so 
feebly — to  Him  who  displays  every  moment  the  tokens 
of  love  and  wisdom  through  the  vastness  of  His  universe 
— to  Him  who  must  have  omnipresence,  omnipotence 
and  omniscience  to  originate  and  sustain  a  plan  so  varied 
and  so  stupendous — to  Him  shall  I  so  small  a  thing 
deny  the  conscious  Personality  which  I  feel  character- 
izes my  own  soul   and  lives  in  all  my  acts }     Rather  I 


28  ,  PERSONALITY  OF  GOD. 

believe  Philosophy  will  adopt  the  language  of  Scripture 
and  exclaim  :  "  Thou,  Lord,  in  the  beginning  hast  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  earth,  and  the  heavens  are  the 
works  of  Thy  hands.  They  shall  perish,  but  Thou  re- 
mainest  ;  and  they  all  shall  wax  old  as  doth  a  garment, 
and  as  a  vesture  Thou  shall  fold  them  up,  and  they  shall 
be  changed;  but  Thou  art  the  same,  and  Thy  years  shall 
not  fail." 

But  the  force  of  our  argument  is  not  expended.  In- 
deed, we  have  not  yet  presented  our  crucial  and  crown- 
ing proof. 

Hartmann,  we  have  seen,  admits  the  whole  premise  of 
Paley,  but  denies  his  conclusion.  He  concedes  in  nature 
a  design  but  not  a  designer,  and  would  have  a  thought 
without  a  thinker,  a  will  without  a  wilier,  an  operation 
without  an  operator.  His  Primal  Substance,  like  that 
of  Spinoza,  is  the  ancient  Egyptian  and  Boodhistic,  and 
modern  materialistic,  unconsciousness  and  impersonality 
which,  under  whatever  name,  distinguish  Pantheism. 
Into  the  Primal  Substance  he  admits  both  Intellect  and 
Will.  But  why  does  he  concede  Intellect  and  Will  ? 
Because  he  must  account  for  design  by  Intellect  and  for 
Power  by  Will.  But  are  thought  and  motion  all  that  he 
is  required  to  explain  "i  All,  if,  as  Hume  and  Mill  hold, 
the  soul  is  only  a  series  of  ideas,  feelings  and  impres- 
sions. We  have  found  the  soul  more.  It  has  been 
shown  that  the  tlioughts,  the  affections,  the  volitions,  the 
actions  must  be  referred  to  the  Causative  Personality  ex- 
pressed in  each  individual  by  the  pronoun  I.  Hartmann 
must  account,  not  only  for  the  thought  and  the  force, 
but  for  the  consciousness  and  the  personality.  Am  I  an 
agent  ?  Am  I  a  cause  ?  Am  I  a  conscious  person  ? 
How  then  could  an  unconscious  cause  produce  in  me 
consciousness  as  an  effect  ?     How  could  the  impersonal 


PERSONALITY  OF  GOD.  29 

evolve  from  me  the  personal  ?  Impossible  !  Admit  in 
me  a  causative  and  conscious  Personality  and  you  must 
admit  in  the  Deity  a  causative  and  conscious  Personality, 
infinite  in  correspondence  with  the  infinitude  proved  by 
the  vastness  of  the  universe.  Here,  again,  we  are 
brought  by  Philoso[)hy  to  the  God  of  the  Bible  forever 
interpreted  to  man  by  the  personal  pronouns: 

"  I  am  the  Lord  that  maketh  all  things.  I  have  made 
the  earth  and  created  man  upon  it.  I,  even  my  hands 
have  stretched  out  the  heavens,  and  all  the  hosts  of 
them  have  I  commanded." 

But  the  argument  is  crowned  and  consummated  when 
we  pass  from  abstract  reasoning  to  concrete  illustration. 

Behold  a  planetarium  !  Worlds  are  represented  by 
wooden  balls.  The  sun  is  a  globe  of  brass.  Motion 
proceeds  from  the  hand.  Not  a  ray  of  light  beams, 
not  a  leaf  unfolds,  not  a  fly  is  warmed  into  life.  Repair 
and  lubrication  are  in  daily  demand. 

Expand  the  low  room  into  the  dome  of  Heaven  ! 
Push  out  the  walls  into  the  infinitudes  of  space  !  Swell 
the  brazen  ball  into  a  sphere  a  million  of  miles  in  diam- 
eter, throwing  out  from  its  fountains  of  glory  rays 
through  the  midnight  of  our  system,  penetrating  with 
grateful  warmth  our  distant  earth,  the  gracious  parent  of 
grasses,  flowers,  fruits  and  harvests,  causing  sea  and 
land  to  teem  with  animated  existence,  bringing  into 
view  valley  and  mountain  and  ocean,  the  pleasing  land- 
scape and  the  wide  sky,  making  the  agreeable  change  of 
day  and  night  with  the  gold  and  crimson  of  the  evening 
and  the  morning  and  the  vicissitudes  of  the  seasons, 
sending  out  the  influences  of  gravitation  and  compelling 
immeasurable  and  innumerable  worlds  with  a  motion  so 
noiseless  mortal  ear  never  caught  the  sound,  and  a  pre- 
cision   so  exact  as  to   be  expressed  in    the  formulas  of 


30  PERSONALITY  OF  GOD. 

mathematics — above  all,  vivifying  man  the  visible  lord 
of  the  creation! 

Can  this  variety  and  magnificence  of  power  and  wis- 
dom be  ascribed  to  a  being,  such  as  Hartmann  supposes, 
who  has  intellect  and  will  to  produce  results  so  stupen- 
dous and  yet  is  without  personality  and  unconscious  of 
his  own  existence  and  attributes  ?  Rather,  in  accord- 
ance with  my  common  sense  and  my  Bible,  let  me  believe 
that  God,  a  Person,  said,  "  Let  there  be  lights  in  the 
firmament  of  heaven,  and  let  them  be  for  signs  and  for 
seasons,  and  for  days  and  for  years.  And  God  made 
two  great  lights,  the  greater  light  to  rule  the  day  and 
the  lesser  light  to  rule  the  night.  He  made  the  stars 
also — the  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,  and  the 
firmament  showeth  forth  His  handy- work." 

More  striking  yet  an  illustration  drawn  from  ourselves! 

Compare  the  Vatican  Apollo  with  a  human  body  I 
The  marble  form  is  indeed  an  ideal  of  manly  majesty! 
Almost  we  imagine  divinity  on  the  face  and  brow.  But 
alone  this  god  cannot  stand.  He  is  confined  to  a  fixed 
spot.  On  his  countenance  is  one  changeless  expression. 
He  is  but  cold,  soulless,  motionless  stone. 

How  different  a  human  body  !  It  grows.  From  an 
invisible  germ  it  takes  shape  and  proportion,  and  ex- 
pands into  what  a  glory  of  strength  and  majesty  !  It 
moves.  So  perfectly  is  the  law  of  gravitation  control- 
ling the  heavens  seen  in  its  construction  that  it  pro- 
ceeds over  earth  with  what  matchless  ease,  grace  and 
rapidity,  uniting  extremes  almost  inconceivable — firm- 
ness and  flexibility,  strength  and  swiftness,  beauty  and 
robustness,  the  stability  of  the  pillar  with  the  progression 
of  the  wheel  !  It  sees.  The  universe  is  a  panorama  of 
form  and  color  to  paint  on  the  eye  its  exquisite  images. 
It  speaks.     Lip  and  tongue  pour   forth  their  sounds   to 


PERSONALITY  OF  GOD.  3 1 

kindle  passion,  convince  the  intellect  and  persuade  the 
will,  while  face  and  form  express  themselves  with  silent 
but  resistless  power  as  man  stamps  himself  on  man.  It 
propagates.  From  it  living  billions  have  peopled  our 
world.  It  is  inhabited.  We  pass  from  the  outer  temple 
and  find  within  the  glory.  Here  is  a  spirit  shrinking 
with  sensibility,  kindling  with  passion,  teeming  with 
thought,  invincible  with  resolve — subduing  the  earth  and 
measuring  the  heavens — grasping  after  infinity  and  aspir- 
ing to  eternity. 

Now  what  do  our  Hartmanns  teach  .?  That  while  the 
maker  of  the  Vatican  Apollo  is  a  conscious  personal  agent, 
that  He  who  called  into  existence  this  body  of  man  ; 
that  He  who  is  the  author  of  its  hidden  susceptibilities, 
its  wonderful  combinations,  its  exact  mechanisms,  its 
secret  chemistries  ;  that  He  who  contrived  its  varied 
and  exquisite  relations  to  air,  earth,  water,  light,  heat, 
electricity  and  so  many  vegetable  and  animal  organisms, 
and  even  to  suns  and  systems  ;  that  He,  above  all,  who 
is  the  creator  of  this  marvellous  conscious  and  personal 
soul,  is  Himself  both  unconscious  and  impersonal. 

Again,  in  accordance  with  my  common  sense,  I  prefer 
to  believe  my  Bible  where  it  affirms  that  God  said,  "  Let 
us  make  man  in  our  image,  and  let  them  have  dominion 
over  the  fish  of  the  sea  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air, 
and  over  the  cattle  and  over  all  the  earth.  And  God 
created  man  in  His  own  image,  in  the  image  of  God 
created  He  him."  "  I  will  praise  Thee,  for  I  am  fear- 
fully and  wonderfully  made  :  marvellous  are  Thy  works, 
and  that  my  soul  knoweth  right  well.  How  precious  are 
Thy  thoughts  to  me,  O  God  !  How  great  is  the  sum  of 
them  !     When  I  awake  I  am  still  with  Thee  !  " 


32  MOSAIC  COSMICAL  RECORD. 


LECTURE  III. 

MOSAIC  COSMICAL  RECORD. 

WE  have  presented  from  nature  arguments  for  the 
unity,  wisdom,  and  personality  of  the  Deity. 
Striking  agreements  have  been  shown  between  the  con- 
clusions of  science  and  the  declarations  of  Scripture. 
Buc  we  are  met  with  the  objection  that  the  record  of  the 
creative  work  by  Moses  in  Genesis  is  in  conflict  with 
modern  discovery.  The  time  has  come  to  examine  the 
subject. 

But  to  understand  a  writing  we  should  study  its  author 
and  its  object.  Moses,  who  composed  or  compiled  the 
first  five  books  of  the  Bible  called  the  Pentateuch,  was  a 
descendant  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  therefore 
by  blood  an  Israelite.  History  says  that  he  was  born  in 
the  Egyptian  city,  Heliopolis.  He  saw  the  light  when 
the  pyramids  for  many  centuries  had  been  looking  loftily 
down  on  a  land  covered  with  obelisks,  sphinxes,  tombs, 
temples,  and  other  noble  works  of  art.  Luxor  and  Kar- 
nak  were  standing  unrivalled  in  their  columned  majesty. 
In  sculpture,  Egypt  was  grander  than  Greece,  and  in 
astronomy  next  to  Chaldea.  Now  it  happened  that  while 
Moses  was  yet  an  infant  he  was  transplanted  from  the 
home  of  his  parents,  who  were  slaves,  into  the  palace  of 
the  king,  and  instructed  in  every  branch  of  knowledge. 
During  forty  years  he  had  royal  and  priestly  privileges  of 
learning  which  were  superior  to  those  in  every  other 
country   of  the  globe.     As  we  gather  from  history,  and 


MOSAIC  COSMIC  A  L  RECORD.  33 

also  from  his  works,  his  vast  natural  abilities  were  corre- 
spondingly improved. 

But  he  had,  moreover,  those  advantages  which  seclu- 
sion and  meditation  give  in  ripening  and  mellowing 
wisdom.  When  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  powers  he  was 
suddenly  translated  from  the  court  of  a  monarch  and 
the  society  of  the  learned,  into  the  wilderness  of  Arabia, 
where,  amid  rugged  mountain  scenery  and  a  primitive 
people,  he  had  leisure  to  digest  and  arrange  his  knowl- 
edge, and  prepare  himself  for  his  future  mission. 

During  a  third  space  of  forty  years  he  was  ruler, 
prophet  and  law-giver  in  Israel.  On  him  was  the  re- 
sponsibility of  saving  and  guiding  and  training  a  nation. 
After  having  been  its  deliverer,  he  communicated  its 
code,  composed  its  songs,  wrote  its  history,  combining  in 
himself  such  abilities  and  preparations  as  have  never  been 
surpassed. 

Now  let  us  see  what  was  to  be  accomplished  by  him  in 
the  sacred  canon.  His  gifts  and  education  were  for  a 
purpose. 

The  Scriptures  consist  of  sixty-six  books,  and  were 
composed  at  different  times  during  a  period  of  more  than 
fifteen  hundred  years.  They  were  intended  not  only  for 
the  instruction  of  the  Jews,  but  to  illuminate  all  nations, 
claiming  to  be  a  revelation  from  God  of  a  religion  which 
is  to  supersede  all  other  systems,  and  establish  itself  su- 
preme in  all  the  regions  of  our  world.  Thus  in  every 
age  and  country  they  challenge  the  most  intense  and 
terrible  opposition.  You  may  imagine  the  antagonisms 
to  a  religion  aspiring  to  be  universal. 

But  the  Scriptures  are  not  only  exposed  to  opposition 
in  all  lands,  and  in  all  times,  but  at  all  points.  They 
claim  to  be  pure  truth  dictated  by  the  Almighty.  Proved 
error  is  fatal   to  their  inspiration   and  authority.     The 


34  MOSAIC  COSMICAL  RECORD. 

Bible  resembles  a  man  vulnerable  in  every  part,  and 
hence  liable  to  death  wherever  wounded.  You  will  not 
wonder  that  a  writer  who  was  to  begin  such  a  work  was 
nobly  endowed,  and  carefully  educated. 

On  reflection  you  will  find  that  even  the  first  chapter 
of  such  a  work  was  no  slight  undertaking.  What  shall 
we  say  to  the  description  of  the  creation  of  a  universe; 
of  its  original  elements  with  their  potencies  and  possibili- 
ties forever*  of  our  earth  with  its  atmosphere  and  con- 
tinents, its  seas,  and  lakes,  and  rivers,  and  oceans,  and 
islands,  and  mountains;  of  its  varied  vegetable  and 
animal  life,  including  man,  of  all  the  visible  monarch; 
and  then,  also,  of  those  innumerable  worlds  which  crowd 
the  solitudes  of  immensity?  For  a  mortal  no  task  could 
be  more  stupendous.  And  all  to  be  comprised  in  a  few 
lines  to  circulate  in  every  language,  among  every  nation, 
and  through  every  age,  challenging  the  universal  opposi- 
tion of  superstition  and  science  and  philosophy  by  a 
claim  to  infallible  truth  and  divine  authority! 

That  I  may  show  you  more  fully  and  clearly  the  diffi- 
culty and  the  magnitude  of  the  record  of  the  creative 
work,  I  will  endeavor  in  a  single  proposition  to  announce 
its  indispensable  requisites. 

It  must  contain  nothing  that  will  needlessly  contradict  the 
prejudices  of  its  own  age,  and  nothing  that  ivill  ever  con- 
tradict the  discoveries  of  any  subsequent  age. 

Permit  me  to  give  an  illustration  of  this  proposition. 

Moses  unquestioningly  believed  the  earth  to  be  a  flat 
surface,  and  a  centre  about  which  the  stars,  the  planets, 
and  the  sun  revolved.  For  this  had  he  not  the  testimony 
of  his  sight?  And  did  he  not  see  stretching  around  him 
in  every  direction  a  seemingly  curveless  terrestrial  plain? 
Did  he  not  behold  the  celestial  luminaries  performing 
their  daily  and  nightly  circuits  about  our  world?     To  all 


MOSAIC  COSMICAL  RECORD.  35 

this  lie  could  say,  "  My  eyes  are  witnesses."  Surely  it  is 
not  strange  that,  generation  after  generation,  men  should 
believe  what  they  think  they  perceive.  We  have  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  on  these  questions  Moses  had  any 
other  guides  than  his  eyes,  and  he  was  constrained  to 
accept  their  testimony.  Is  it  not  then  strange,  believing 
the  earth  to  be  flat,  and  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  to  re- 
volve about  it,  that,  in  the  whole  extent  of  his  writings,  he 
should  in  no  single  word  commit  himself  to  a  false  theory 
universally  received  until  a  recent  period?  I  think  that 
you  Avill  find  it  interesting  to  pursue  further  the  sugges- 
tion. 

To  show  more  fully  the  nature  of  the  difficulty  en- 
countered by  Moses,  and  bis  marvellous  preservation  from 
error,  I  will  make  two  suppositions,  first  premising  what 
is  perhaps  needless,  that  the  Ptolemaic  system  is  that 
which  made  the  earth  the  centre  round  which  the  sun 
and  stars  revolved,  and  that  the  Copernican  system  is 
that  which  makes  the  sun  the  centre  round  which  the 
earth  and  the  other  planets  revolve. 

I.  Then  suppose  that  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis 
Moses  had  enunciated,  not  the  Ptolemaic  but  the  Coper- 
nican system  which  astronomers  now  know  to  be  true. 

What  would  have  been  the  consequence  ?  He  would 
have  anticipated  the  world  by  three  thousand  years.  Men 
would  have  been  confounded,  repelled  and  disgusted 
when  required  to  believe  in  apparent  contradiction  to 
their  senses.     They  would  have  exclaimed: 

"  You  declare  what  is  daily  proved  false  by  our  eyes. 
We  see  that  the  earth  is  not  a  sphere.  We  see  it  to  be 
motionless.  We  see  the  heavens  rolling  about  it.  Each 
star  by  night  and  the  sun  by  day  are  witnesses  against  your 
revelation."  Ignorance  would  thus  have  urged  objections 
for  which  Moses  himself  could  have  had  no  answer.     I 


36  MOSAIC  COSMICAL  RECORD. 

think  that  I  am  prepared  to  show  you  how  powerful  the 
useless  prejudice  he  would  have  excited  into  the  fury  of 
a  tempest. 

Hear  how  the  learned  I.actantius,  one  of  the  early 
fathers  of  the  Church,  raged  against  what  is  now 
proved  to  be  the  true  theory  of  our  solar  system  ! 

"  Is  there  any  one  so  senseless  as  to  believe  that  there 
are  men  whose  footsteps  are  higher  than  their  heads? 
that  the  crops  and  trees  grow  downward?  that  the  rains 
and  snow  fall  upward  to  the  earth?  If  you  inquire  of  those 
who  defend  these  marvellous  fictions  why  all  things  do 
not  fall  into  the  lower  part  of  the  heaven,  they  reply  that 
such  is  the  nature  of  things,  that  heavy  bodies  are  borne 
to  the  middle  like  spokes  in  a  wheel,  while  light  bodies, 
such  as  clouds  and  smoke  and  fire,  tend  from  the  centre 
towards  the  heavens  on  all  sides.  Now  I  am  at  a  loss 
what  to  say  to  those  who,  when  they  have  erred,  steadily 
persevere  in  their  folly,  and  defend  one  vain  thing  by  an- 
other." 

Cosmos  of  Prague,  a  Bohemian  ecclesiastic,  described 
the  earth  as  a  parallelogram,  flat  and  surrounded  by  four 
seas' at  whose  outer  edge  rose  gigantic  enclosing  walls, 
supporting  the  vault  of  the  heavens.  The  structure,  he 
said,  had  two  compartments,  in  one  of  which  men  and 
stars  move,  while  in  the  other  dwell  the  angels  who  push 
and  pull  the  sun  and  planets  to  and  fro. 

Even  as  late  as  the  tenth  century  around  this  stupen- 
dous system  of  error  were  ranged  all  the  batteries  of  the 
Church.  It  was  at  the  peril  of  life  to  assault  the  falsehood. 
Some  who  rejected  it  were  denounced,  silenced  and  sup- 
pressed. One  bold  skeptic  was  taught  better  by  being 
burned.  The  discoveries  of  Copernicus,  the  circumnavi- 
gation of  the  globe  by  Magellan,  the  observations  of  Gal- 
ileo, tlie  calculations  of  Newton  finally  demonstrated  the 


MOSAIC  COSMICAL  RECORD.  37 

rotundity  and  revolution  of  the  earth,  and  the  whole 
world  was  persuaded  of  a  truth  whose  belief  had  made 
martyrs. 

Now,  if  such  bitter  opposition  existed  even  as  late  as 
the  sixteenth  century;  if  the  purest  and  noblest  men 
were  so  adverse  to  what  seemed  to  contradict  their  senses; 
if  even  in  times  of  comparative  scientific  enlightenment 
flames  were  the  arguments  against  the  facts  and  laws  of 
nature,  how  strange,  how  revolting,  how  impossible 
would  the  Copernican  system  have  appeared  to  Chaldean 
and  Egyptian  astronomers  in  the  times  of  Moses  ?  How 
much  more  hateful  to  the  superstitious  multitude,  for 
whom,  as  well  as  for  philosophers,  the  Bible  was  in- 
tended as  a  guide?  The  reserve  of  the  sacred  writers  is 
beautiful,  delicate  and  venerable.  There  was  a  divine  wis- 
dom in  not  revealing  and  recording  the  true  system  of  the 
universe.  It  is  often  plausibly  asked,  "  If  Moses  was  in- 
spired by  the  Author  of  the  creation  to  describe  his  work, 
why  did  not  the  elected  prophet  and  historian  tell  the 
whole  truth?"  The  answer  is  obvious  and  complete.  It 
was  better  for  men  to  learn  the  laws  of  geology  and 
astronomy  by  the  slow,  laborious  and  often  painful  pro- 
cesses of  induction  as  promotive  of  their  enterprise  and 
development,  and  because  the  Bible,  being  intended  as  a 
Book  of  Salvation,  a  teacher  of  duty,  a  support  in  trial 
and  a  guide  to  Heaven,  it  was  wiser  not  to  anticipate  the 
discoveries  of  science  and  to  puzzle  and  bewilder  the  igno- 
rant by  communications  they  could  not  understand,  and 
unnecessary  to  the  grand  purposes  of  a  revelation. 

But  we  will  now  reverse  the  case  and  suppose, 

II.  That  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  had  revealed,  not 
the  Copernican,  but  the  Ptolemaic  system. 

For  thirty  centuries  the  world  would  have  rested  in  the 
error.     Scarcely   any  man    would  have   doubted.     Occa- 


38  MOSAIC  COSMICAL  RECORD. 

sionally  would  have  come  suggestions  that  the  sun  and  not 
the  earth  was  the  centre  of  our  system.  Pythagoras  be- 
fore our  era,  Capella  in  the  fifth  century,  and  in  the  fif- 
teenth, De  Cusa,  had  ghmpses  of  the  truth,  which  were 
indeed  prophecies  of  the  coming  splendor.  At  Thorn,  in 
Prussia,  in  1473,  Copernicus  was  born.  He  received  his 
doctor's  degree  at  Cracow,  studied  astronomy  at  Bologna, 
taught  at  Rome,  and  became  a  canon  at  Frauenburg. 
The  thought  grew  in  his  soul  that  the  sun  and  the  planets 
do  not  revolve  about  the  earth,  but  that  the  earth  and  the 
planets  revolve  about  the  sun.  He  imperilled  his  life  by 
the  publication  of  his  opinions.  His  work  on  the  "  Revo- 
lution of  the  Heavenly  Bodies,"  reaches  him  on  his  death- 
bed Soon  his  eyes  close  on  it  forever.  He  is  in  his 
grave  beyond  the  reach  of  his  enemies.  But  his  doctrine 
was  not  buried.  It  survives  in  his  book  and  all  the 
ecclesiastical  batteries  thunder  against  the  truth  of  the 
eternal  God.  Arguments  are  drawn  from  Aristotle,  from 
Aquinas,  from  Scripture  to  prove  that  the  earth  is  the 
centre  of  the  system.  Protestant  anc'  Catholic  unite 
against  the  doctrine  as  subversive  of  the  faith.  Hear 
Luther,  the  author  of  the  Reformation,  the  enemy  of 
popes,  the  hero  and  the  herald  of  intellectual  emancipa- 
tion !     He  says: 

"  People  gave  ear  to  an  upstart  astrologer,  who  strove 
to  show  that  the  earth  revolves,  not  the  heavens  or  the 
firmament,  the  sun  or  the  moon." 

But  what  were  the  views  of  the  mild  and  conservative 
Melancthon,  the  theologian  of  the  Reformation,  who  so 
often  allayed  the  storms  and  harmonized  the  elements.' 
He  is  more  violent  than  the  impetuous  Luther  himself. 
Mark  his  contemptuous  words! 

"  The  eyes  are  witnesses  that  the  heavens  revolve  in 
the  space  of  twenty-four  hours.     But  certain  men,  either 


MOSAIC  COSMICAL  RECORD.  39 

from  love  of  novelty  or  to  make  a  display,  have  con- 
cluded that  the  earth  moves,  and  they  maintain  that 
neither  the  eighth  sphere  nor  the  sun  revolves.  It  is  a 
want  of  honesty  and  decency  to  assert  such  notions  pub- 
licly, and  the  example  is  pernicious." 

Bruno,  another  advocate  of  the  Copernican  system,  was 
exposed  to  the  storm  from  which  the  grave  protected  its 
great  author.  The  disciple  was  pursued  from  country  to 
country;  was  arreste'd,  imprisoned,  burned.  His  ashes 
were  scattered  to  the  winds  of  heaven  to  testify  the  de- 
structive hatred  of  its  enemies  to  that  grand  doctrine 
which  is  at  the  centre  of  all  astronomical  science. 

Not  long  after  Galileo  invented  his  telescope.  The 
foes  of  Copernicus  had  tauntingly  said  to  the  great 
Florentine,  "  If  your  doctrine  were  true,  Venus  should 
show  phases  like  the  moon,"  and  these  opposers  were 
right.  It  was  a  crucial  objection  for  which  Galileo  had 
no  answer.  Admitting  the  force  of  the  argument,  in  the 
simplicity  of  his  soul  he  replied,  "You  are  right;  I  know 
not  what  to  answer;  God  is  good,  and  will  in  time  find 
an  answer  to  this  objection." 

How  touching  such  candor!  How  beautiful  such  faith! 
How  magnificent  the  pious  astronomer's  reward!  See 
Galileo  with  his  telescope!  He  points  it  to  the  heavens! 
'it  is  on  Venus!  ]\Iark  the  amazement  and  the  triumph 
on  the  face  of  the  observer!  God's  time  has  indeed  come 
as  Galileo  had  predicted,  and  now  he  beholds  the  proof 
of  his  doctrine.  The  veil  of  ages  is  lifted.  What  a  spec- 
tacle of  beauty!  There  shines  Venus  disclosed  first  to 
mortal  vision,  divested  of  her  starlike  splendors,  and 
showing  her  golden  crescent  on  the  deep  blue  of  heaven! 
Sight  confirms  reason.  The  telescope  of  Galileo  has 
verified  the  argument  of  Copernicus,  and  proved  by  the 
eye  the  great  central  truth  of  our  system  and  our  universe. 


40  MOSAIC  COSMICAL  RECORD. 

But  the  battle  is  not  over.  Rather,  it  only  began  with 
this  vision  of  glory.  Ecclesiastical  thunders  burst  over 
the  astronomer.  He  is  accused  as  a  heretic.  He  is  pro- 
nounced in  league  with  Satan.  He  is  guilty  of  infernal 
error.  In  Italy,  in  Germany,  in  Holland,  in  France,  the 
great  universities  condemn  the  doctrine  of  Copernicus, 
and  the  discovery  of  Galileo.  Science  and  religion 
unite  against  the  everlasting  truth  of  the  creation.  Still 
Galileo  turns  his  telescopic  eye  to  the  heavens.  Fresh 
wonders  reveal  themselves  through  sense  to  his  intellect. 
He  points  his  instrument  to  the  moon  and  sees  on  her 
bright  face  her  valleys  and  her  mountains  He  dis- 
covers those  mysterious  spots  on  the  sun.  The  tempests 
on  earth  burst  into  fresh  fury  with  every  revelation  of 
truth  from  the  heavens.  Hell  itself  seems  striving  to 
quench  the  celestial  light.  At  last  the  Copernican  doc- 
trine is  formally  condemned  in  the  following  memorable 
words: 

"  The  first  proposition  that  the  sun  is  the  centre  and 
does  not  revolve  about  the  earth  is  foolish,  absurd,  false 
in  theology,  and  heretical,  because  expressly  contrary  to 
the  Scripture;  and  that  the  second  proposition  that  the 
earth  is  not  the  centre,  but  revolves  about  the  sun,  is 
absurd,  false  in  philosophy,  and  from  a  theological  point 
of  view  at  least,  opposed  to  the  true  faith." 

Galileo  is  also  commanded  "  to  abstain  from  sustain- 
ing, teaching,  or  defending  that  opinion  in  any  manner 
whatsoever,  orally  or  by  writing." 

Nor  have  we  yet  reached  the  saddest  act  of  the  tragic 
history.  Unequal  to  martyrdom,  the  illustrious  astrono- 
mer escapes  by  abjuration  the  doom  of  the  dungeon  and 
the  lire.  No  humiliation  was  ever  more  touching.  Hear 
how  fear  by  falsehood  would  escape  torture:  "  I,  Galileo, 
being  in  my  seventieth  year,  being  a  prisoner,  and  on  my 


MOSAIC  COSMICAL  RECORD.  4 1 

knees;  having  before  my  eyes  the  Holy  Gospels,  which  I 
touch  with  my  hands,  abjure,  curse,  and  detest  the  error 
and  the  heresy  of  the  movement  of  the  earth." 

Surely  such  a  degradation  of  genius  will  appease  the 
tyrannic  fury  of  human  ignorance.  No!  When  brought 
out  from  his  prison  Galileo  was  deprived  of  his  position, 
separated  from  his  family,  exiled  from  his  friends,  until 
blind,  and  old,  and  wasted,  and  miserable,  he  died  over- 
come by  disease  and  sorrow.  He  was  buried,  not  among 
his  relatives,  nor  with  funeral  ceremonies  suitable  to  his 
genius  and  discoveries,  but  borne  to  a  solitary  grave,  and 
left  for  a  century  without  a  monument  or  an  epitaph. 

But  truth  prevailed  against  envy,  ignorance,  and  rage. 
Reason  by  the  telescope  compelled  the  eye  to  reverse  its 
testimony  and  dispelled  the  shadows  of  centuries.  The 
discoveries  of  Kepler,  the  calculations  of  Newton,  the 
demonstrations  of  La  Place  and  La  Grange  have  been 
confirmed  by  daily  observations,  and  innumerable 
methods,  until  the  Copernican  system  is  accepted  with 
all  the  assurance  of  a  mathematical  axiom.  A  school- 
boy would  scorn  to  doubt,  and  it  is  believed  by  the  very 
populace  in  civilized  countries. 

From  these  fierce  conflicts  you  perceive  how  deeply  the 
Ptolemaic  system  was  rooted  in  the  belief  of  mankind, 
and  how  hard  it  was  to  dislodge  from  the  soul  what 
seemed  proven  by  the  eye.  We  cannot  doubt  that  Moses 
thought  that  the  sun  and  stars  revolved  about  the  earth 
as  appearances  testified.  Neither  in  history  nor  Scripture 
is  there  the  slightest  proof  to  the  contrary.  When  de- 
scribing the  creation  of  our  world  and  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  how  does  it  happen  that  in  no  instance  Moses 
made  his  own  opinions  apart  of  the  record.''  How  could 
it  be  possible  that  he  would  not  write  what  he  believed? 
Under  ordinary  circumstances  what  would  men  publish 


42  MOSAIC  COSMICAL  RECORD. 

but  their  own  convictions?  Does  this  absence  of  the 
private  erroneous  views  of  Moses  not  raise  a  most  power- 
ful argument  in  favor  of  the  inspiration  of  the  writer? 
Surely  only  the  Eternal  Spirit  of  Truth  could  have  pre- 
vented the  opinions  of  the  historian  from  being  intruded 
into  his  record,  and  when  there  was  every  occasion  and 
every  temptation  to  their  introduction.  To  me  this 
seems  an  incontrovertible  proof  of  inspiration. 

But  let  us  return  to  our  supposition.  Had  the  Ptole- 
maic system  been  wrought  into  our  Bibles,  for  ages  its 
errors  would  have  been  undetected,  and  have  remained 
part  of  the  popular  belief.  At  last,  however,  the  veil 
would  have  been  lifted  from  the  antiquated  lie,  and  the 
Scriptural  fabric  have  been  shaken  to  its  foundations, 
and  exposed  to  the  scorn  and  triumph  of  its  enemies. 
Copernicus  was  a  Christian.  Kepler  was  a  Christian. 
Galileo  was  a  Christian.  Newton  was  a  Christian.  How 
would  the  faith  of  those  good  and  grand  men  have  been 
shocked  and  shattered  had  the  error  of  Ptolemy  been 
made  part  of  the  Mosaic  Record  !  When  Copernicus  be- 
came persuaded  of  the  truth,  when  Kepler  discovered  its 
proof,  when  Galileo  confirmed  it  by  his  telescope,  when 
Newton  established  it  by  his  calculations,  how  fearful  for 
these  pious  astronomers  had  they  demonstrated  that  the- 
Book  of  Nature  was  opposed  to  the  Book  of  Revelation  ! 

It  is  related  that  when  the  Brahmins  of  India  master 
sufficient  mathematics  and  astronomy  to  show  the  falsity 
and  absurdity  of  their  monstrous  legends  of  the  creation, 
they  turn  against  them  with  fierce  scorn  and  indignant 
hatred.  And  surely  the  great  modern  discoverers  in 
science  would  have  experienced  a  similar  revulsion  to- 
wards the  Scriptures  had  they,  in  accommodation  to  the 
popular  superstitions,  taught  errors  in  regard  to  the  con- 
stitution of  the  universe. 


MOSAIC  COSMICAL  RECORD  43 

You  will  now,  I  think,  agree  with  me  that  the  Mosaic 
history  of  the  creation  evinced  a  superhuman  wisdom  in 
not  needlessly  contradicting  the  prejudices  of  the  world 
for  three  thousand  years  by  prematurely  announcing  the 
Copernican  system;  and  also  that  you  must  ascribe  to 
the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  that  the  private  belief  of 
the  narrator  in  the  system  afterwards  styled  Ptolemaic 
was  in  no  instance  brought  into  his  record  to  be  dis- 
proved and  condemned  by  the  discoveries  of  our  modern 
astronomers  which  they  have  compelled  all  men  to  re- 
ceive. 

Certainly  it  is  astonishing  that  a  narrative  should  be  so 
constructed  that,  without  the  slightest  contortion,  it 
should  be  equally  suitable  to  a  time  of  ignorance  and  a 
time  of  knowledge;  should  keep  its  place  during  thou- 
sands of  years  of  astronomical  error,  and  defy  the  as- 
saults of  its  enemies  during  hundreds  of  years  of  astro- 
nomical truth;  and  should  in  an  age  of  darkness  on  every 
subject  of  science  lay  the  foundations  of  a  universal  re- 
ligion which  endures  the  scrutiny  of  an  age  of  unex- 
ampled light.  With  what  veneration  we  should  regard 
such  a  record!  It  claims  to  bring  us  within  the  vestibule 
of  the  temple  of  the  universe.  No  writing  ever  deserved 
more  careful  and  profound  study. 

Nor  will  our  regard  for  the  Mosaic  narrative  be  di- 
minished when  we  compare  it  with  the  Chaldean  account 
of  the  creation  procured  and  deciphered  by  the  learned 
and  enthusiastic  labors  of  the  late  Mr.  George  Smith. 
Amid  piles  of  broken  cuneiform  tablets  and  cylinders  in 
the  British  Museum  that  gentleman  noticed  some  char- 
acters which  seemed  to  describe  the  Deluge,  and  he 
visited  the  Orient  in  search  of  the  missing  fragments. 
Amid  the  ruins  of  Koyunjik  his  energy  was  rewarded. 
He  found  the  wanted  tablets.     But  while  searching  for 


44  MOSAIC  COSMICAL  RECORD. 

the  cuneiform  records  of  the  Deluge  he  discovered  also 
those  of  the  Creation.  Cylinders  of  clay  exposed  for 
ages  to  the  elements,  and  scattered  by  Arabs  in  their  wild 
search  for  treasures,  have  been  brought  together  after 
centuries  of  separation,  and  enable  us  to  contrast  the 
puerile  traditions  of  Chaldea,  with  the  sublime  Hebrew 
Scriptures. 

In  opposition  to  the  unity  of  the  creation  as  proved  by 
Science,  we  notice  especially  how  polytheistic  are  the  ac- 
counts preserved  in  the  recovered  fragments.  Chaos  is 
a  goddess  who  produces  even  the  inferior  deities.  We 
have  the  names  of  the  chief  divinities  of  the  Assyrian 
Pantheon.  In  addition  to  Tamiat,  the  universal  mother, 
are  the  god  Lahmu,  the  god  Sar,  the  god  Kisar,  the  god 
Anu,  the  god  Assur,  the  god  Bel,  the  god  Hea,  the  god 
Ninsiku,  the  god  Niku.  Uri  the  moon  is  a  god,  and 
Shamas  the  sun  is  a  god. 

Imagine  Science  gravely  attempting  to  reconcile  such 
childish  inventions  with  her  great  discoveries!  Accept- 
ing this  record  our  modern  astronomer  when  turning  his 
telescope  towards  the  sun  and  moon  would  be  observing 
a  pair  of  gods,  and  the  navigator  would  be  plowing  the 
bosom  of  his  divine  mother  Tamiat. 

How  puerile  too  the  thought  and  the  style!  A  child 
now  would  scorn  such  a  record.  You  could  scarce  use 
it  as  a  nursery-tale.  What  addition  does  it  make  to  our 
knowledge.?  Can  it  stimulate  intellect.''  Evidently  it  is 
a  whimsical  tradition  of  an  ancient  but  infantine  idolatry. 
Rather,  it  is  a  polytheistic  corruption  of  the  Biblical 
original,  which  shines  with  a  new  beauty  and  splendor  in 
contrast  with  this  dimmed  and  defaced  copy.  In  the 
comparison  wc  realize  how  simple,  how  sublime,  how 
majestic  is  the  Mosaic  narration  !  How  it  intertwines 
itself  with  history,  and  art,  and  literature!     By  its  bold 


MOSAIC  COSMICAL  RECORD.  45 

claim  to  inspiration  it  challenges  Science,  and  excites  the 
world  to  its  investigation.  In  its  exposition  it  accumu- 
lates around  itself  the  treasures  of  the  learning  of  all  the 
ages  of  the  earth  whose  creation  it  so  grandly  and  worthi- 
ly describes.  Surely  the  history  of  Genesis  is  a  suitable 
introduction  for  a  Religion  claiming  to  be  founded  on 
the  cross  of  a  Divine  Saviour,  to  be  thus  touched  with  the 
glory  of  Godhead,  to  be  a  preparative  for  the  solemnities 
of  Judgment,  and  the  rewards  of  the  Life  Everlasting! 


46  INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 


LECTURE  IV. 

INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

MODERN  Enterprise  has  explored  Assyria,  Egypt, 
Arabia,  and  also  Palestine  and  the  contiguous 
regions  with  an  unexampled  sagacity  and  success.  The 
keys  to  the  cuneiform  and  hieroglyphical  writings  have 
opened  to  us  a  knowledge  of  the  very  nations  most  con- 
stantly connected  with  the  Jews,  and  which,  therefore, 
most  frequently  appear  in  the  Scriptures.  Keener  tests 
than  those  in  our  possession  could  not  be  applied  to  any 
book.  At  every  point  the  Bible  is  exposed  to  searching 
criticisms.  I  will  adduce  a  few  facts  to  prove  how  won- 
derfully modern  research  confirms  the  Scriptural  Record. 

Although  the  precise  locality  may  never  be  ascer- 
tained, it  is  yet  certain  that  the  Bible  places  Paradise 
near  the  sources  of  the  Euphrates,  And  from  the 
mountains  in  that  region  it  is  now  agreed  that  the  popu- 
lations of  the  earth  have  dispersed.  Thence  Celt  and 
Goth  and  Scandinavian  and  Slav  migrated  to  Europe, 
and  thence  came  also  the  inhabitants  of  China,  Japan 
and  Hindoostan.  The  analysis  and  comparison  of 
languages  show  near,  subtle  and  numerous  relationships 
between  the  Greek,  t)ie  Latin  and  Teutonic  tongues  and 
the  Sanscrit  of  ancient  India.  Scripture  and  Science 
unite  in  testifying  that  from  the  lofty  table-lands  of  Asia 
the  world  was  people^l,  and  that  on  the  same  maternal 
summits  was  spoken  the  original  language  of  our  race. 

Over  the  earth  we  ihave  previously  proved  a  primitive 


INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  47 

monotheism,  which  finally  always  experienced  polythe- 
istic additions.  It  is  safe,  therefore,  to  conclude  that 
the  Mosaic  narrative  revealing  God  as  one  is  the  original 
from  which  other  traditions  are  the  corrupted  copies. 
This  is  in  accordance  with  the  universal  analogy.  Hence 
we  may  affirm  that  the  wonderful  cuneiform  accounts  of 
the  creation,  the  fall,  and  the  deluge,  discovered  by  Mr. 
George  Smith  at  Koyunjik,  are  polytheistic  perversions 
from  Genesis,  whose  great  antiquity  is  therefore  most 
signally  confirmed. 

The  early  post-diluvians  are  represented  as  saying, 
"  Let  us  make  brick  and  burn  them  thoroughly.  They 
had  brick  for  stone  and  slime  for  mortar."  How  pre- 
cisely this  corresponds  with  the  regions  where  the  ruins 
of  Babylon  have  been  discovered!  Out  of  brick  were 
built  the  vast  Assyrian  walls,  temples  and  palaces.  Piles 
of  ruins  attest  the  accuracy  of  the  Mosaic  description. 
Indeed  the  mound  of  Birs  Nimrud  furnishes  proof  that 
the  "  Temple  of  the  Seven  Lights  of  the  Earth  "  was 
built  on  the  remains  of  the  tower  of  Babel  itself.  This 
incidental  confirmation  of  the  Bible  is  most  striking.  Let 
me  give  the  inscription  :  "  Nebuchadnezzar,  King  of 
Babylon,  Shepherd  of  the  peoples  ;  the  repairer  of  the 
pyramid  of  the  tower!  Merodach,  the  great  master, 
created  me.  Nebo,  the  guardian  over  the  regions  of  the 
heavens  and  the  earth,  charged  my  hands  with  the 
sceptre  of  Justice.  The  Pyramid  is  the  temple  of 
Heaven  and  Earth — the  seat  of  Merodach,  the  chief  of 
the  gods.  The  place  of  the  oracles  of  the  spot  of  his  rest 
I  have  adorned  in  the  form  of  a  cupola  with  shining  gold. 
We  say  for  the  other,  a  former  king  built  it,  but  he  did 
not  complete  its  head.  Since  a  remote  time  people  have 
abandoned  it  without  order  e.xpressing  their  words — I 
did  not  change  it,  nor  did  I  take  away  the  foundation 


48  INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

Stone.  I  set  my  hand  to  finish  and  exalt  its  head.  I 
made  it  as  it  had  been  in  ancient  days.  I  exalted  its 
summit." 

Abraham  led  the  wandering  life  of  a  Bedouin  chief. 
He  lived  in  tents,  and  owned  flocks  in  the  midst  of  a 
primitive  patriarchal  simplicity.  But  he  also  differed 
widely  from  the  ordinary  barbaric  leader  of  wild  hordes. 
He  showed  a  culture,  a  courtesy,  a  dignity,  and  a  large- 
ness of  mind  which  indicate  education.  Only  a  supe- 
rior and  disciplined  intellect  could  have  left  on  all  ages 
such  an  impression  of  moral  majesty.  But  whence  the 
cultivation  of  this  tent-dwelling  chieftain  ?  Recent  ex- 
plorations enable  us  to  answer  the  question.  Ur,  the  na- 
tive city  of  Abraham,  was  in  his  time  the  splendid  me- 
tropolis of  Chaldea.  Stamped  bricks  reveal  the  names  of 
many  early  kings.  Urukh  was  a  conqueror  and  builder 
second  only  to  Nebuchadnezzar.  He  erected  in  his  cap- 
ital three  sacred  structures,  and  a  temple  to  tlie  moon 
from  whose  lofty  towers  astronomers  observed  the  stars. 
Abraham  was  then  born  and  educated  amid  the  highest 
culture  of  his  times.  Around  him  too  were  those  costly 
and  imposing  monuments  of  idolatry  which  showed  its 
supremacy  in  his  native  land,  and  might  well  impel  the 
friend  of  Jehovah  to  flee  from  its  contaminations  pre- 
cisely as  described  in  the  Scriptures. 

Permit  me  here  to  quote  a  remarkable  testimony  from 
"Smith's  Assyrian  Discoveries":  "Among  the  new 
texts  discovered  during  my  expeditions  to  the  valley  of 
the  Euphrates  are  several  inscriptions  of  great  import- 
ance belonging  to  the  early  kings  of  Babylonia.  One  of 
these  is  a  new  text  of  Assurbanipal  relating  to  the  resto- 
ration of  the  images  of  the  goddess  Nana.  In  the 
Book  of  Genesis  it  is  stated  that  in  the  time  of  Abraham 
Babylonia  was  under  the  dominion  of  the  Kingdom  of 


INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  49 

Elam,  and  the  monarch  of  the  country  bore  the  name  of 
Cherdorlaomer,  or  Kurdiirlagamar.  In  the  inscriptions 
of  Assurbanipal,  who  reigned  B.C.  668  to  626,  we  are 
told  that  when  the  Assyrian  Monarch  took  the  city  of 
Shushan,  the  capital  of  Elam,  B.C.  645,  he  brought 
away  from  the  city  an  image  of  the  goddess  Nana, 
whicli  had  been  carried  off  from  the  city  of  Erech  by 
Kurdur-Nahundi,  the  Elamite  monarch  at  the  time  of 
the  Elamite  conquest  of  Babylonia,  1635  years  before, 
thus  confirming  the  statement  of  Genesis  that  there  was 
an  early  conquest  of  Babylonia  by  the  Elamites. " 

In  Kings  and  Chronicles  we  are  informed  that  Tiglath 
Pileser,  king  of  Assyria,  seized  many  cities  and  districts 
of  Israel,  and  even  carried  captive  whole  tribes.  Rezin, 
king  of  Damascus,  and  Pekah,  king  of  Israel,  had  allied 
themselves  against  Ahaz,  king  of  Judah,  who  invoked 
against  them  the  aid  of  Tiglath  Pileser,  An  historical 
tablet  discovered  at  Nimroud  most  minutely  agrees  with 
the  Biblical  narratives.  Hear  what  the  Assyrian  monarch 
says  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  his  conquests  and  in- 
crease his  glory: 

"  Of  Rezin,  king  of  Syria,  eighteen  talents  of  gold,  three 
hundred  talents  of  silver,  two  hundred  talents  of  copper 
I  appointed.  Damascus  his  city  I  besieged;  like  a  caged 
bird  I  enclosed  him.  Pekah  their  king,  and  Hoshea,  to 
the  kingdom  over  them  I  appointed;  the  tribute  of  them 
I  received." 

Sargon  is  mentioned  but  once  in  the  Scriptures.  His 
name  occurs  incidentally  in  the  parenthesis  of  the  first 
verse  in  the  twentieth  chapter  of  Isaiah.  Nor  was 
anything  more  known  of  him  for  ages.  He  passed 
out  of  history.  His  existence  began  to  be  ques- 
tioned, and  therefore  the  correctness  of  the  Scrip- 
tures.    Now  let  us  see  that   in  the  casual  mention  of  a 


50  INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

single  royal  name  their  accuracy  has  been  proven.  M. 
Botta,  in  his  oriental  researches,  preceded  the  more 
brilliant  and  successful  labors  of  Layard.  He,  indeed, 
more  properly  began  those  splendid  discoveries  which 
shed  so  much  light  on  the  ancient  world.  Now  most 
wonderful  fact!  When,  in  1842,  M.  Botta  exposed  the 
palace  at  Khorsabad,  the  first  monuments  found  were  of 
this  vanished  and  dubious  Sargon.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  extensive  builders  and  magnificent  conquerors  of 
the  Assyrian  dynasties.  Although  small,  his  palace  was 
scarcely  exceeded  in  ornamentation  by  any  royal  edifice. 
It  was  beautified  by  enamelled  bricks,  approached  through 
a  splendid  propylaa  by  a  noble  flight  of  steps,  and  had 
many  peculiar  attractions.  But  let  Sargon  proclaim  his 
own  existence  and  achievements  in  the  usual  style  of  royal 
Assyrian  magniloquence: 

"At  the  foot  of  the  Musiri  hills  to  replace  Nineveh  I 
raised  after  tlie  divine  will  and  wishes  of  my  heart  Hisr-Sar- 
gina,  the  splendid  marvels  and  superb  streets  of  which  were 
blessed  by  great  gods  and  goddesses.  My  palace  con- 
tains gold  and  silver  and  vessels  of  botli  these  metals; 
iron,  the  production  of  many  mines,  stuffs  with  dyed  saf- 
fron, blue  and  purple  robes,  amber,  skins  of  sea-calves, 
pearl,  sandal-wood  and  ebony,  Egyptian  horses,  mules  and 
camels,  booty  of  every  kind." 

But  this  is  not  all  the  evidence  furnished  by  Sargon  to 
the  historical  accuracy  of  the  Bible.  The  whole  verse  in 
Isaiah  is,  "  In  the  year  that  Tartan  came  into  Ashdod 
(where  Sargon  the  king  of  Assyria  sent  him)  and  fought 
against  Ashdod,  and  took  it." 

Thirty  years  after  the  explorations  of  M.  Botta,  an 
octagonal  cylinder,  discovered  by  Mr.  George  Smith,  was 
found  to  contain  a  record  of  this  very  conquest  of  Sargon 
mentioned  by  Isaiah. 


INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  $1 

The  inscription  of  this  king  says,  "  In  my  ninth  expedi- 
tion to  the  land  beside  the  great  sea,  to  Philistia  and  Ash- 
dod  I  went.  Azuri  king  of  Ashdod  not  to  bring  tribute  his 
heart  hardened,  and  to  the  kings  around  him,  enemies 
of  Assyria,  he  sent  to  do  evil.  Over  the  people  round 
about  him  his  dominion  I  broke,  and  carried  off  Ahimiti. 
son  of  his  brother,  before  his  face.  The  cities  of  Ashdod 
and  Gimzo  of  the-Ashdodites  I  besieged  and  captured." 

Read  in  Isaiah  the  haughty  address  of  Sennacherib,  king 
of  Assyria,  to  Hezekiah,  king  of  Judea  !  The  language 
expresses  the  pride,  the  disdain,  the  grandeur  of  a  con- 
queror wearing  the  crown  of  the  mightiest  of  monarchies. 
Turn  now  to  the  cuneiform  histories  of  the  triumphs  and 
magnificence  of  the  kingly  AssyrianI  How  precisely  the 
descriptions  of  the  Bible  are  reflected  in  the  words  of 
the  Smith,  Taylor  and  Bellino  cylinders!  These  corre- 
spondences, however,  are  of  slight  significance  compared 
with  another  most  remarkable  fact. 

The  Scriptures  relate  that  Sennacherib  "came  up 
against  all  the  fenced  cities  of  Judah  and  took  them." 
He  then  sent  a  haughty  message  to  Hezekiah  demanding 
his  submission,  denouncing  vengeance,  and  insulting 
Jehovah.  Hezekiah  humbled  himself,  prayed  in  the 
temple  to  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  and  through  the  proph- 
et Isaiah  received  this  answer,  "  Therefore  thus  saith  the 
Lord  concerning  the  king  of  Assyria.  He  shall  not  come 
into  this  city,  nor  shoot  an  arrow  there,  nor  come  before 
with  shield,  nor  cast  a  bank  against  it.  By  the  way  that  he 
came,  the  same  shall  he  return,  and  shall  not  come  into 
this  city,  saith  the  Lord.  And  it  came  to  pass  that  night 
that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  went  out  and  smote  in  the 
camp  of  the  king  of  the  Assyrians  an  hundred  and  five 
thousand.  So  Sennacherib,  king  of  Assyria,  departed, 
and  went  and  returned  and  dwelt  in  Nineveh." 


52  INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

In  the  inscriptions  of  the  cylinders  we  find  that  Senna- 
cherib made  an  expedition  against  Hezekiah.  Exactly 
corresponding  to  the  Scriptural  record,  the  Assyrian 
king  boasts,  "  Forty-six  of  his  strong  cities,  fortresses,  and 
small  cities  which  were  round  them,  which  were  without 
number,  with  the  marching  of  a  host,  and  surrounding  of 
a  multitude,  attack  of  ranks,  force  of  battering-rams, 
mining,  and  missiles,  I  captured." 

Had  he  taken  Jerusalem,  and  seized  Hezekiah,  after 
the  style  of  an  oriental  despot,  we  know  how  he  would 
have  described  his  entrance  into  the  Jewish  capital,  and 
enumerated  the  spoils  of  his  victory  and  gloried  in  the 
fetters  of  his  kingly  prisoner.  He  says  that  he  made 
Hezekiah  like  "a  caged  bird  in  Jerusalem  his  royal  city." 
He  says  that  he  "  raised  towers,"  around  the  Hebrew 
metropolis.  He  says  that  he  "  shut  the  exit  of  the  great 
gate."  He  says  that  he  "  conquered  "  Hezekiah.  He 
says  that  he  detached  Judah  to  the  kings  of  Ashdod, 
Ekron  and  Gaza.  He  says  that  he  overwhelmed  the 
Jewish  monarch  with  "the  fear  of  the  might  of  his  do- 
minion." Isaiah  asserted  that  he  should  not  enter  Jeru- 
salem, and  Sennacherib  asserts  everything  but  that  he  did 
enter  Jerusalem. 

Before  the  explorations  of  Botta,  Layard  and  Smith  the 
method  had  been  discovered  of  reconciling  the  predic- 
tions of  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  in  regard  to  Zedekiah. 
The  former  prophet  had  declared  that  Zedekiah,  made 
captive,  should  go  to  Babylon,  while  the  latter  foretold 
that  Zedekiah  should  not  see  Babylon.  Although  seem- 
ingly irreconcilable,  the  prophecies  were  harmonized  by 
the  facts.  After  having  been  made  prisoner  at  Riblah,  the 
eyes  of  Zedekiah  were  put  out.  He  was  then  taken  to 
Babylon  where  he  died,  but  which  he  never  saw  owing  to 
his  blindness.      But  e(|ually  striking  is  another  fact  never 


INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  53 

explained  until  the  cuneiform  tablets  and  cylinders  dis- 
pelled the  mystery.  It  is  recorded  in  the  Chronicles, 
"  Wherefore  the  Lord  brought  upon  them  the  captains  of 
the  host  of  the  king  of  Assyria  which  took  Manasseh 
among  the  thorns  and  bound  him  with  fetters  and  carried 
him  to  Babylon."  Now  the  question  was  asked  why 
should  an  Assyrian  monarch  carry  his  royal  captive  to 
Babylon,  supposed,  to  be  a  rival  seat  of  empire,  instead 
of  Nineveh  his  own  capital?  The  answer  is  furnished  by 
the  inscriptions.  Esarhaddon  held  Babylon  tributary, 
and  was  the  only  Assyrian  king  who  had  his  throne  in 
that  city.  This  is  proved  by  the  bricks  inscribed  with 
his  name  discovered  in  his  palace.  Living  at  Babylon  he 
carried  home  his  royal  prisoner. 

In  Daniel  Celshazzar  appears  as  the  last  king  of  Baby- 
lon. He  is  described  as  slain  in  his  banquet-hall  when 
the  Medes  and  Persians  took  the  city.  But  in  no  ancient 
writer  was  there  mention  of  such  a  king  as  Belshazzar. 
Here  was  a  seeming  discrepancy  between  sacred  and  pro- 
fane history.  Various  theories  were  suggested  to  relieve 
the  difficulty. 

In  the  year  1854  the  explanation  was  discovered.  Sir 
Henry  Rawlinson,  in  a  Temple  of  the  Moon,  found  an 
inscription  which  informs  us  that  Nabonadius,  the  usurper 
who  succeeded  Nebuchadnezzar,  married  the  daughter  of 
that  monarch,  and  associated  with  him  his  son  Belshazzar 
on  the  tlirone  of  Babylon.  Nabonadius  escaped  before  the 
fall  of  the  city.  Belshazzar  remained  and  was  killed  as 
described  by  Daniel.  This  also  explains  why  Belshazzar 
was  styled  the  son  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  He  was  indeed 
his  grandson.  But  in  oriental  usage  the  grandson  is  fre- 
quently styled  son.  Another  thing  is  made  plain.  Bel- 
shazzar promised  Daniel,  if  he  interpreted  the  vision,  that 
he  should  be  the  ///m/ruler  in  his  kingdom.     Nabonadius, 


54  INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

the  father  was  first,  Belshazzar  the  son  was  second,  and 
Daniel,  therefore,  could  be  only  third.  How  wonderfully 
in  these  minute  circumstances  has  modern  research  con- 
firmed the  historic  accuracy  of  the  Scriptures! 

The  wars  of  the  Jews  and  their  repeated  captivities 
brought  the  nation  into  close  and  frequent  associations 
with  the  Assyrians.  Especially  did  the  lofty  position  of 
the  venerable  Daniel  create  a  most  intimate  relationship. 
In  his  writings,  in  the  prophecies  of  Ezekial,  and  in  the 
narratives  of  Ezra,  references  to  the  customs  of  the  con- 
querors are  innumerable.  Explorations  in  the  tombs, 
temples  and  palaces  of  the  old  cities  of  the  Tigris  and 
the  Euphrates  give  us  varied  and  vivid  pictures  of  dim 
and  distant  centuries.  It  is  not  rash  to  affirm  in  this  new 
light  shed  over  those  ancient  periods  by  the  pictures  and 
inscriptions,  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  the 
scriptural  writers  to  fabricate  so  many  minute  and  inci- 
dental agreements.  Indeed  only  by  means  of  modern  dis- 
coveries can  we  comprehend  much  before  obscure  and 
unintelligible. 

And  when  we  turn  to  Egypt  coincidences  multiply. 
Abraham,  Joseph,  Jacob  make  illustrious  the  connec- 
tion of  Israel  with  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs.  Four  hun- 
dred years  of  captivity  caused  the  Hebrews  to  be  only 
too  well  acquainted  with  their  masters.  Moses  was  edu- 
cated in  a  palace  of  the  most  splendid  of  the  monarch- 
conquerors  who  from  the  valley  of  the  Nile  extended  em- 
pire over  a  large  part  of  Asia  and  Africa.  Now  in  no 
land  were  the  national  peculiarities  so  striking.  The  an- 
nual overflows  of  its  wonderful  river  gave  direction  to  the 
life  of  Egypt.  Embalmment  of  the  dead  imparted  eccen- 
tricity to  the  habits  of  the  people.  Another  remarkable 
custom  was  the  worship  of  beasts.  Thus  in  dress, 
in    manners,     in     arts,     in     literature,     in     religion,     the 


INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  55 

Egyptians  were  distinguished  from  all  other  nations, 
and  in  the  pictures  on  the  tombs  the  life  of  each  class 
is  vividly  visible.  Inscriptions  and  papyri  increase  our 
familiarity  with  the  country  of  the  ancient  Pharaohs  Yet 
each  fresh  discovery  among  the  writings  and  the  monu- 
ments along  the  Nile  proves  how  minute  and  faithful  were 
the  delineations  of  the  sacred  penman.  Moses,  although 
a  Jew,  had  the  masterful  knowledge  of  an  Egyptian.  Only 
birth  and  education  in  the  land  could  have  given  this  ex- 
actitude which  never  fails.  The  Egypt  of  the  Bible  is 
the  Egypt  of  the  archaeologist.  Imposture  here  would 
seem  impossible. 

To  illustrate  what  has  been  advanced,  we  will  select  a 
few  facts  connected  with  the  Exodus.  It  will  be  per- 
ceived that  the  reigns  of  the  great  Rameses  and  his  son, 
Menephtha,  furnish  all  the  conditions  required  by  the 
sacred  narrative. 

Moses  describes  the  lives  of  the  Israelites  as  "  bitter 
with  bondage  in  mortar,  and  in  brick,  and  in  every  man- 
ner of  service  in  the  field,"  so  that  their  cry  reached 
heaven  and  moved  Jehovah. 

Now  Rameses  was  distinguished  as  a  conqueror  and  a 
builder.  He  was  a  cold,  haughty,  remorseless  tyrant. 
His  face  in  stone  was  not  so  hard  as  his  heart.  Although 
diminished  and  exhausted  by  fierce  wars,  his  people  were 
yet  compelled  to  erect  works  numerous  and  stupendous. 
A  papyrus  of  his  reign  gives  us  one  of  the  saddest  pic- 
tures ever  drawn  of  the  insufferable  miseries  of  kingly 
oppression.  Colossal  images  of  himself  at  Ipsamboul, 
hewn  from  the  hills,  were  monuments  of  his  victories. 
The  porch  of  the  majestic  Karnak  was  covered  with  his 
battles.  His  sculptures  filled  the  Theban  Ramesseum, 
where  gods  in  stone  offered  homage  to  this  intolerable 
mortal   despot.     In   the  temple  of  Ptah  arose  enormous 


$6  INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

statues  of  himself  and  his  queen,  and  Tanis  bore  witness 
to  his  lavish  expenditures.  Canals,  sphinxes,  obelisks 
over  Egypt  attested  his  tireless  enterprise  and  boundless 
extravagance.  Nearly  every  ruin  along  the  Nile  bears 
the  name  of  this  Pharaoh,  whose  collective  works  rival 
the  pyramids.  But  Rameses  bought  his  glory  with  the 
toil,  tears,  and  blood  of  his  people.  His  captives  espe- 
cially were  wasted  and  tortured  by  labors  and  punish- 
ments. The  temples  of  his  gods  were  reared  on  the 
graves  of  men. 

More  than  all  others  did  the  Israelites  suffer.  It  has 
been  ascertained  from  the  papyri  and  the  monuments 
that  the  gigantic  Asian  wars  of  Rameses  were  really  in 
self-defence.  His  empire  was  threatened  by  a  powerful 
confederacy,  and  while  victorious  he  was  yet  fighting  for 
existence.  Now  the  land  of  Goshen,  occupied  by-  the 
Israelites,  lying  next  to  Asia,  was  exposed  to  incursions, 
and  had  to  be  fortified  by  an  immense  wall.  The  Pithom 
and  Rameses  mentioned  in  our  Bibles  are  discovered  to 
have  been  magazines  of  supplies.  In  Exodus  they  are 
called  treasure-cities,  but  the  Hebrew  would  be  more 
properly  translated  store-cities.  They  were,  indeed, 
depots  of  grain,  and  the  ruins  of  Rameses  are  vast  piles 
of  brick  which  composed  just  such  structures  as  the  slaves 
of  Goshen  would  erect  in  Goshen.  Asian  themselves, 
and  suspected  therefore  of  sympathies  with  the  Asian 
enemies  of  a  Pharaoh,  they  would  not  be  spared  by  their 
task-masters.  Thus  modern  research  proves  the  precise 
conditions  depicted  in  the  Book  of  Exodus. 

Egyptologists  have  also  discovered  a  writing  vividly 
describing  a  chain  of  fortified  cities  erected  from  Pelu- 
sium  to  Heliopolis  and  among  these  are  the  Rameses  and 
Pithom  of  Exodus.  One  of  the  papyri  narrates  a  recep- 
tion of  the  monarch  into  the  city  bearing  his  name.     More 


INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  5/ 

than  this.  The  Hebrews  are  officially  recorded  as  the 
builders.  In  a  papyrus  in  the  Museum  of  Leyden  the 
Scribe  Kautsir  reports  to  his  superior  Baken-ptha  that 
"  he  has  distributed  the  rations  among  the  soldiers,  and 
also  among  \\\q  Hebrews  v^Yvo  carry  the  stones  to  the  great 
city  of  King  Rameses." 

Shishak,  or  Sheshonk,  is  the  first  Pharaoh  whose  per- 
sonal name  is  recorded  in  the  Scripture.  It  is  on  his 
monuments  also  we  first  find  mention  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Judah.  Rehoboam  rejected  alliance  with  Shishak,  and 
attempted  to  escape  from  his  yoke.  The  Egyptian  mon- 
arch advanced  against  Jerusalem,  and  the  Jewish  king 
submitted.  Precisely  corresponding  to  these  facts,  as  re- 
lated in  the  Bible,  is  a  great  bas-relief  on  the  outer  wall 
of  the  hypostile  hall  of  Karnak.  The  Scripture  says  that 
Shishak  "  took  the  fenced  cities  which  pertained  to  Judah," 
and  the  inscription  gives  the  names  of  cities  of  Judah  men- 
tioned in  the  Scripture  Among  the  bound  figures  with 
cords  about  their  necks,  emblematic  of  subjection  by 
conquest,  the  most  conspicuous  bears  the  title  "J^^ouada- 
Malek."  This  may  be  translated,  "  The  land  of  the 
King  of  Judah," 

Recent  explorations  also  explain  why,  as  recorded  in 
Exodus,  the  Egyptians  were  afraid  the  Israelites  would 
"  join  their  enemies,  and  fight  against  them,  and  so  get 
them  up  out  of  the  land." 

The  wars  and  works  of  Rameses  had  exhausted  his 
kingdom.  His  statues,  sphinxes,  obelisks  and  temples 
stood  on  hearts  and  lives.  The  people  were  groaning  un- 
der the  weight  of  magnificent  monuments  erected  for  the 
glory  of  a  tyrant  who  despised  his  toilers  and  called  him- 
self their  god.  During  his  life  the  bold  military  genius 
of  Rameses  awed  his  subjects,  and  the  tempest  was  de- 
tained.    But  his  death    loosed    storm    and   earthquake. 


58  INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

Menephtha,  his  son,  paid  the  price  of  his  father's  glory. 
The  indignant  hate  of  an  oppressed  and  impoverished 
people  made  this  Pharaoh  a  gloomy  and  suspicious  des- 
pot. 

Menephtha  dreaded  the  Asian  enemies  with  such  dif- 
ficulty restrained  by  the  skill  and  courage  of  his  father. 
An  alliance  between  these  and  the  Israelites  was  a  per- 
petual menace.  Thus  the  Hebrew  slaves  in  Goshen,  be- 
tween Asia  and  Egypt,  held  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of 
the  Pharaoh.  Joined  to  his  foes  they  could  shake  his 
throne.  Hence  he  sought  by  increased  toil,  to  break  the 
spirit  of  his  injured  and  desperate  bondmen  and  to  re- 
duce their  numbers  by  the  murder  of  their  children. 

The  account  of  the  Plagues  also  receives  fresh  illustra- 
tion in  the  light  of  the  hieroglyphic  writings  and  monu- 
ments. 

In  Goshen  the  god  of  Pithom  was  a  serpent.  An  asp 
was  an  emblem  of  the  divine  Kneph.  Serapis  was  often 
represented  as  a  reptile.  Yet  the  rod  of  Moses,  con- 
verted into  a  serpent,  devoured  the  serpent-gods  of 
Egypt. 

The  Nile  was  also  a  deity.  It  was  an  object  of  wor- 
ship as  a  source  of  life,  while  blood  was  the  emblem  of 
Egypt's  great  satanic  enemy.  How  significant  and  ter- 
rible the  first  plague  to  a  nation  of  such  idolaters!  The 
bountiful  Nile,  adored  as  Osiris,  becomes  itself  the  red 
symbolic  blood  of  the  dreaded  and  detested  Typhon. 

Nor  were  the  subsequent  visitations  of  the  displeasure 
of  Jehovah  less  suggestive.  Each  was  a  blow  at  some 
superstition  of  the  national  idolatry.  Also,  in  the  strug- 
gle between  the  king  and  the  prophet,  in  the  flight,  the 
pursuit,  the  escape,  the  destruction,  and,  as  now  ascer- 
tained, in  each  topographical  detail  by  land  and  by  sea,  we 
perceive  how  modern  research  has  cast  over  the  picture 


INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  59 

that  lurid  light  befitting  the  overthrow  of  a  tyrant  predes- 
tined to  his  ruin. 

And  the  harmonies   do  not  cease  when  we  pass  into 
that  "  terrible  wilderness."     The  whole  journey  from  the 
Nile  to  Sinai,  and  from  Sinai  to  the  Jordan,  can  now  be 
explained  and  illustrated.      What  a  minute  knowledge 
had  the  historian  of  the  Exodus  of  that  fearful  and  deso- 
late region!      How  exquisite  his  local  coloring!     How 
faithful   his   masterful  pencil!      "When  we   read   the  old 
biblical  narrative  we  feel  that  we  are  amid  the  very  scenes 
so  vividly  depicted  by  the  modern  traveller. 
I  will  select  a  single,  but  most  striking  proof. 
The  place  of  the  declaration  of  the  Law  is  described  as 
a  precipitous  mountain   around   which   were   encamped 
four  millions  of  people.     But  in  the  region  of  Sinai  is 
there  a  spot  answering  to  such  conditions?     The  country 
is  a  terrible  scene  of  wild,  gigantic,  volcanic  mountains. 
Innumerable  peaks  lift  their  brows  of  ragged  rocks  into 
heaven.     But  are  any  accessible  to  a  multitude?     In  im- 
mense   regions    not   a   valley    would   accommodate    the 
Hebrew  host.     Piled  and  seamed  with  splintered  rocks 
the  narrow  gorges  are  bounded  by  walls  of  perpendicular 
granite.     Many  travellers  puzzled   over   the  difficulties. 
Volumes  were  written  and  theories  were  endless.     Finally 
an   expedition   was   sent   out  under  the    Director-Gene- 
ral of  the  British  Ordnance   Survey.     Thus  was  secured 
a  trained  military  experience,  without  any  possibility   of 
clerical  bias.     Two  captains  of  Royal  Engineers  were  in 
the  party,  and  also  one  of  the  most  learned  Professors  of 
Arabic  in   the  world.     By  months  of  labor  the   entire 
region   about    Sinai   was    surveyed    and    mapped.     One 
peak  was  selected  unanimously  as  uniting  all  the  require- 
ments of  the   Mosiac  narrative.     Its  picture  makes  this 
visible.     From  the  midst  of  a  valley  amply  wide  and  level 


6o  INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

for  the  Hebrew  encampment,  abrupt  as  the  sides  of  an 
altar,  Ras-Susafah,  the  rival  of  Jebel  Musa,  lifts  itself  in 
solitary  grandeur,  fitted  in  every  way  to  be  that  sublime 
summit  on  which  the  elected  nation  witnessed  the  cloud 
and  storm  and  fire  when  the  Law  was  given  to  Moses  by 
Jehovah. 

Entering  Palestine  we  find  that  every  hill  and  vale  and 
stream  and  ruin,  has  been  examined.  Jew  and  Greek, 
Protestant  and  Romanist,  men  of  every  sect  and  every 
nation  have  been  visiting  the  Holy  Land  during  cen- 
turies. Travellers  and  residents,  pilgrims  and  warriors, 
believers  and  infidels,  have  united  in  the  search.  The 
Land  and  the  Book  have  been  indefatigably  compared. 
Recently  has  been  applied  a  crucial  test.  An  English 
Palestine  Exploring  Fund  is  devoted  to  the  critical 
examination  of  Judea,  and  a  committee  a  few  years  since 
was  appointed  to  search  the  sacred  soil  with  an  unsparing 
scrutiny.  The  substructions  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem 
have  been  most  laboriously  examined.  Beneath  the 
accumulations  of  centuries,  walls,  vaults,  sewers,  arches, 
galleries  were  discovered  and  described.  Royal  En- 
gineers brought  to  these  explorations  the  enterprise, 
exactitude,  and  experience  of  the  military  profession. 
Their  measurements  and  drawings  evince  the  most 
scrupulous  accuracy.  Every  discovery  harmonizes  with 
the  Bible.  Amid  a  vast  mass  of  confirmatory  knowledge, 
there  is  one  slight  fact  inestimable  in  its  importance.  Its 
insignificance  gives  point  and  power  to  its  testimony. 

Solomon  renewed  the  friendship  which  had  existed 
between  his  father  and  the  Phoenician  Hiram,  king  of 
Tyre.  It  is  said  in  the  Scriptures,  "  They  brought  great 
stones,  costly  stones,  and  hewed  stones  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion of  the  house.  And  Solomon's  builders  and  Hiram  s 
builders  did  hew  them;  so  they  prepared  timber  and 
stones  to  build  the  house." 


INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  6 1 

You  will  observe  that  hetved  stones  were  brougJit  to  the 
foundations,  and  that  the  Syrians,  who  were  Phoenicians, 
assisted  tlie  Hebrews.  Prepared  at  the  quarry,  they 
would  have  quarry  marks.  Those  dressed  by  Phoenician 
masons  would  bear  Phoenician  signs.  Now  amid  the 
earliest  substructions  of  the  temple  are  foundation-stones 
on  which  are  Phoenician  letters  in  red  paint,  fresh  after 
the  concealment  of  centuries,  and  plainly  Phoenician 
quarry-marks  made  by  the  hands  of  Phoenician  work- 
men, such  as  the  Scriptures  inform  us  had  been  employed 
by  king  Solomon. 

In  August,  1868,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Klein,  an  Anglican 
clergyman,  attached  to  the  Jerusalem  Mission  Society* 
was  informed  of  the  existence  of  an  inscribed  stone  which 
had  never  been  seen  by  a  European.  He  found  it  in  the 
Land  of  Moab,  and  in  a  perfect  state  of  preservation. 
The  Prussian  government  endeavored  to  obtain  a  firman 
for  the  possession  of  the  stone.  Negotiations  were  pro- 
tracted and  complicated.  Finally  the  greedy  and  sus- 
picious Arabs  kindled  a  fire,  and  throwing  cold  water  on 
the  heated  stone,  broke  it  into  fragments.  Imperfect 
impressions  were,  however,  secured.  We  find  in  Kings 
and  in  Chronicles  the  name  of  Omri,  king  of  Israel,  and 
we  discover  the  same  monarch  amid  the  mutilations  of  the 
Moabite  stone. 

We  will  complete  these  isolated  proofs  by  coming  down 
a  thousand  years  in  the  history  of  the  world.  The  inter- 
mediate testimonies  are  beyond  our  power  to  enumerate. 

In  the  Book  of  Acts  we  have  a  most  vivid  picture  of  a 
popular  tumult  in  Ephesus.  The  nice  natural  touches  in 
the  simple  narrative  are  more  effective  than  any  art.  Paul's 
sermons  had  caused  many  magical  books  to  be  burned, 
and  his  miracles  had  excited  a  profound  interest.  Idola- 
try began  to  be  alarmed,  angry  and  vengeful.     A  shrine- 


62  INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

maker  whose  craft  was  endangered  first  artfully  infuri- 
ated his  follows,  and  then  appealed  to  the  other  artisans 
to  guard  the  honor  of  their  patroness,  the  divine  Diana, 
the  object  of  their  worship,  and  the  giver  of  their  wealth, 
fame  and  magnificence.  Stirring  in  these  mad  Ephesians 
was  there  a  blind  prophetic  instinct  dimly  present  of  the 
approaching  times  when  the  Church  would  empty  the 
temple,  overthrow  the  image,  and  bring  to  the  Cross  those 
proud  and  pampered  idolaters?  The  people  rush  to  the 
theatre.  Wild  and  furious  cries  succeed.  Fierce  and 
prolonged  the  agitation,  and  had  Paul  been  visible,  it 
would  have  ended  in  murder.  And  we  perceive  in  the 
tumult  all  the  excesses  peculiar  to  a  democracy.  We  are 
in  the  midst  of  citizens  accustomed  to  discuss  and  decide 
their  own  measures.  A  popular  speech  begins  and  ends 
the  assemblage. 

About  ten  years  since  some  explorations  at  Ephesus  gave 
this  narrative  of  the  Acts  a  most  remarkable  illustration. 

An  English  architect,  Mr.  Wood,  burned  with  a  wish 
to  find  the  buried  temple  of  Diana.  In  regard  to  its  site 
ancient  authors  were  contradictory,  confusing  and  mis- 
leading. Standing  amid  a  wide  scene  of  desolate  ruins 
the  solitary  explorer  saw  nothing  to  guide  in  his  work. 
He  began  blindly,  and  long  had  no  reward  for  his  toil 
and  money  but  deep,  gaping  pits,  and  provoking  piles  of 
earth.  Exposed  to  malaria,  assaulted  by  disease,  im- 
perilled by  assassination,  with  slight  patronage,  and 
irritating  opposition,  he  persevered  through  six  fruitless 
years,  when  some  marbles  in  the  Great  Theatre  gave  him 
an  unexpected  clew.  Finding  first  the  Magnesian  and 
Coressian  gates,  he  cut  his  way  through  streets  of  tombs 
and  the  soil  of  the  sacred  grove,  until  he  struck  the  foun- 
dation on  which  the  temple  for  centuries  had  supported 
its  pillared  majesty. 


INCIDENTAL  PROOFS  OF  SCRIPTURE  63 

The  marbles  of  the  theatre  were  mostly  records  of 
decrees  proposed  and  passed  in  the  Agora.  They  re- 
veal the  life  of  Ephesus  for  five  centuries.  We  see  that 
the  democratic  constitution  strangely  given  by  the  con- 
quering Alexander,  had  been  perpetuated  to  the  times  of 
the  Roman  Emperors.  All  begins  and  ends  with  the 
people.  The  citizen  dominates  the  assembly.  Each 
motion  and  debate  has  in  view  the  glory  of  Ephesus,  and 
the  temple  as  the  centre  of  that  glory.  When  we  read 
the  inscriptions  of  the  unburied  marbles  of  the  theatre, 
we  are  amid  the  scenes  so  graphically  described  in  the 
Acts.  We  breathe  the  air  of  the  same  popular  arsembly. 
With  a  spark  we  can  see  how  the  citizens  would  kindle 
into  an  agitation  fierce  as  that  which  raged  about  Paul. 
The  very  technical  Greek  words  signifying  temple-warden 
and  scribe  are  found  on  the  Ephesian  marbles  and  in  the 
Scriptural  records. 


64  ADAPTATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


LECTURE  V. 

ADAPTATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

A  RELIGION  from  Heaven  should  meet  the  uni- 
versal needs  of  our  Humanity.  Such  a  requisite 
is  fundamental  and  indispensable.  A  system  revealed 
by  God  will  bear  the  impress  of  God,  and  in  nothing 
more  than  in  its  adaptation  to  a  grand  and  beneficent 
purpose.  Has  Christianity  this  presumption  in  its  favor? 
Before  presenting  its  positive  proofs,  permit  me  to  show 
that  it  is  a  religion  having  the  visible  signature  of  .God 
because  it  is  so  perfectly  suited  to  the  great  wants  of 
man 

And  I  begin  with  a  lesson  from  Idolatry  itself.  In  the 
human  heart  is  a  powerful  tendency  to  worship  through 
images.  Pictures  and  statues  please  the  eye  and  excite  the 
fancy,  and  by  their  grace  and  beauty  attract  the  multi- 
tude to  the  temple,  and  sometimes  may  possibly  assist  in 
the  contemplation  of  the  invisible  Supreme.  Owing  to 
their  abuse  in  sensualizing  and  degrading  the  soul,  they 
were  forbidden  by  the  Mosaic  Law,  and  yet  after  ages  of 
instruction  Idolatry  has  in  our  world  the  largest  number 
of  votaries.  It  must  therefore  testify  to  a  universal  need 
in  man.  Each  carved  or  pictured  image  in  the  pagan 
temple  witnesses  the  extent  and  potency  of  a  desire  for 
faith  in  some  superior  represented  being  deserving  trust 
and  worship.  Yet  by  the  canvas  and  the  statue  Idolatry 
cannot  satisfy  this  yearning.  The  soul  grows  out  of  its 
superstition  and  scorns  the  image  it  adored.     Gods  even 


ADAPTATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  65 

in  the  beautiful  and  majestic  forms  of  Grecian  genius, 
could  not  appease  the  yearning  which  ever  cries  in  man. 
Now  Christianity  acknowledges  the  need  to  which 
Idolatry  testifies.  Rather,  I  should  say,  Christianity  is 
designed  for  that  need.  And  surely  there  is  a  strong 
presumption  in  behalf  of  a  religion  which,  admitting  the 
universal  need  witnessed  by  Idolatry,  makes  to  that  need 
its  prime  appeal  by  presenting  as  an  object  of  faith,  love 
and  adoration  a  Being  at  once  Creator  and  Sovereign  of 
the  universe;  in  His  existence  eternal;  in  His  presence, 
power  and  knowledge  without  a  limit;  in  His  justice,  and 
in  His  mercy,  and  in  every  conceivable  perfection  unsur- 
passable. Christianity  thus  lifts  man  to  the  dream  and 
ideal  of  his  soul.  The  heart  wants  the  Infinite  for 
trust.  The  reason  wants  the  Infinite  as  a  cause  for 
nature.  The  imagination  wants  the  Infinite  to  satisfy 
its  aspirations  for  perfection.  In  his  fear  and  impotency, 
amid  change  and  death,  awed  by  the  vastness  of  the  uni- 
verse and  the  shadow  of  eternity,  man  reaches  out  to 
the  Infinite  for  help  with  a  cry  which  will  not  be  stifled, 
and  Christianity,  like  a  mother,  would  care  for  this  im- 
portunate human  infant. 

But  by  the  idol  of  the  temple  stands  the  altar.  In 
the  blood  and  flame  of  the  victim  what  is  expressed? 
Here  is  another  significant  lesson.  Life  is  given  to  ex- 
piate sin.  How  powerful  the  impulse  which,  overcom- 
ing the  selfish  greed  for  property,  wastes  it  by  knife  and 
fire!  Rivers  of  blood  have  flowed  in  atonement.  The 
flames  of  sacrifice  might  enwrap  a  world.  However 
superstitious  this  blind  wish  for  propitiation,  it  is  yet  too 
deep  and  overmastering  to  be  overlooked.  It  expresses 
the  soul,  and  is  recognized  by  Christianity.  Consider 
the  expiation  she  would  ofl^er!  By  light  and  gravitation 
has  Science  proved  the  unity  of  the  universe?     The  Moral 


66  ADAPTATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

Law  is  wide  as  the  physical.  To  meet  its  claim,  Christian- 
ity points  to  Jesus  Christ  on  His  Cross  as  a  satisfaction 
to  the  eternal  justice  of  the  Godhead,  and  also  as  a  proof 
of  the  eternal  love  of  the  Godhead  by  the  offer  of  a 
human  life  exalted  in  its  worth  to  infinitude  by  an  ever- 
lasting union  with  the  Godhead.  No  thoughtful  man 
can  mock  such  a  scheme.  It  appeals  to  the  most  profound 
needs  of  humanity,  and  commands  our  attention,  secures 
our  respect,  and  inspires  with  a  desire  to  investigate  its 
awful  and  sublime  claims  to  our  acceptance. 

In  addition  to  the  image  and  the  altar,  Idolatry  has  the 
laver.  What  meant  the  sacred  water  of  the  temple?  It 
was  a  symbol  of  purity,  and  showed  the  wish  to  escape 
moral  defilement.  Among  the  ancients  lustrations  by 
water  cleansed  individuals,  cities,  kingdoms,  empires. 
Now,  the  Brahmin's  life  is  to  avoid  pollution,  and  the 
Ganges  is  the  laver  of  India.  The  ablution  of  the  Mos- 
lem precedes  his  prayers.  In  all  ages  and  races,  by 
varied  rites,  humanity  has  expressed  this  consciousness 
of  moral  impurity,  and  this  yearning  for  moral  deliverance. 
Thus  the  laver  of  the  Jewish  temple  had  no  narrow  na- 
tional significance,  but  was  a  universal  symbol.  Water, 
however,  is  the  sign,  not  the  substance.  A  true  religion 
must  offer  something  deeper  than  bodily  baptism.  Here 
Christianity  has  another  claim  to  our  regard.  Not  rest- 
ing in  the  external  symbolic  application,  she  would  pen- 
etrate the  spirit,  and  renew  the  soul  of  man  by  the 
power  of  his  Creator.  She  aspires  to  restore  our 
lapsed  and  defiled  h-\imanity  by  the  energy  of  a  Divine 
Regeneration.  We  do  not  here  assert  that  she  vindicates 
her  claim.  We  only  affirm  that  in  her  provision  for  our 
moral  renovation  by  the  Holy  Spirit  she  increases  her 
title  to  our  respectful  C(5nsideration, 

Often,  also,  in  the  temple  of  Idolatry  was  to  be  found 


ADAPTATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  6/ 

the  Oracle,  attesting,  a  desire  to  know  the  will  of  the 
deity.  Is  the  god  propitious?  Man  would  have  a  sign 
of  the  favor  of  Heaven.  Thus,  too,  the  Oracle  expresses 
the  soul.  Idolatry,  however,  leaves  the  nations  in  painful 
doubt  of  acceptance.  This  is  the  darkest  shadow  over 
the  pagan  world.  But,  even  through  the  sacrifice  of  the 
temple  the  priest  of  Jehovah  was  authorized  to  pronounce 
the  absolution  of  the  penitent  and  obedient  offerer.  In 
the  New  Testament  was  conferred  power  to  forgive 
sins,  and  promise  was  made  that  faithful  believers  should 
have  the  abiding  witness  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Such  a 
provision,  by  its  adaptation  to  an  attested  need,  is  a  strong 
additional  presumption  in  favor  of  Christianity. 

Idolatry  had  another  characteristic  not  yet  noticed. 
All  religions  began  in  an  acknowledgment  of  the  Divine 
Unity,  but  were  finally  corrupted  into  the  multiplication 
of  deities  and  images.  An  infinite  spiritual  being  seemed 
too  lofty  for  human  apprehension.  By  an  image  the  sub- 
limity of  God  must  be  reduced  to  the  feebleness  of  man. 
Idolatry  was  thus  the  wish  to  make  the  Divine  visible  in 
the  painted  or  sculptured  form  in  which  seemed  to  meet 
earth  and  Heaven.  And  in  answer  to  this  profound 
demand  of  the  soul  was  the  Incarnation.  To  satisfy  the 
human  breast  God  and  man  were  united  in  the  person  of 
the  visible  Christ.  Adapted  to  so  deep  and  wide  a  need 
of  our  world,  Christianity  should  attract  to  the  investi- 
gation of  those  evidences  by  which  she  would  establish 
her  authority  as  a  Revelation  from  Heaven. 

And  over  all  in  the  temple— image,  altar,  laver  and 
oracle — Idolatry  throws  the  veil  of  an  awful  mystery. 
By  every  aid  of  art  the  impression  is  deepened  and  inten- 
sified. This,  too,  grew  out  of  the  soul  and  was  recognized 
by  Christianity.  Crowning  her  system  is  the  sublime 
mystery  of  the  Trinity.      The  existence  of  three  Divine 


68  ADAPTATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

Persons  in  one  everlasting  Godhead  may  well  sink  man 
forever  into  awe,  and  exalt  him  into  reverence. 

Nor  must  we  forget  that  Idolatry  testified  to  a  Moral 
Law.  As  in  the  fragments  of  a  mirror  her  votaries 
beheld  the  shattered  image  of  eternal  Truth.  But 
ever  the  broken  rays  became  obscured  by  the  mists  of 
passion,  or  the  pride  of  reason.  Conscience  in  the  human 
breast  was  never  wholly  silenced.  Yet  in  the  lives  and 
writings  of  the  most  virtuous  and  eminent  ancient  philos- 
ophers what  gropings  in  moral  gloom!  What  bewilder- 
ments of  error!  Amid  the  most  pure  and  sublime  senti- 
ments what  confusion  inextricable  of  right  and  wrong! 
In  their  loftiest  estate  they  gave  evidence  that  human 
nature  was  only  a  splendid  ruin.  Often  they  admitted 
their  moral  darkness,  and  waited  and  yearned  and  prayed 
for  the  light.  No  spectacle  in  the  universe  can  be  more 
touchingly  sad  than  a  Socrates  longing  for  a  spiritual 
illumination  he  consciously  never  received.  And  what- 
ever their  fragmentary  merits,  the  ancient  philosophers 
were  deficient  in  authority.  Only  a  Sovereign  can  im- 
pose and  reveal  a  Law.  Now  the  Scriptures  profess  to 
appease  this  cry  of  our  humanity  for  moral  illumination 
by  a  declaration  of  Truth  which  is  a  transcript  of  the 
Deity,  In  the  Old  Testament  the  Law  claims  to  have 
been  announced  amid  cloud  and  lightning,  and  thunder 
and  earthquake,  to  impress  the  senses  of  a  rude  people; 
and  in  the  New  Testament  to  be  manifested  in  the  pre- 
cept and  example  of  a  Divine  Saviour.  Thus  the  Bible 
presents  itself  as  the  Moral  Statute  Book  of  the  world 
imposed  by  the  Almighty  Monarch  of  the  Creation,  and 
guarded  by  His  sanctions  of  Life  and  Death  everlasting. 
On  personal  beings  it  enjoins  personal  responsibility  to  a 
personal  Sovereign.  Here  we  have  the  simplest  conceiv- 
able moral  philosophy  based  on  the  requirement  of  su- 


ADAPTATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  69 

preme  love  to  God  and  equal  love  to  our  neighbor. 
While  the  law  of  the  archangel,  it  is  comprehensible  by  a 
child.  Our  duty  to  an  earthly  parent  is  the  easy  illus- 
tration of  our  obligation  to  the  Father  of  the  universe. 
And  all  this  simple  and  sublime  teaching  made  practical, 
impressive  and  beautiful  in  the  life  and  death  of  Jesus 
Christ!  What  could  possibly  more  commend  Christi- 
anity to  our  esteem  and  consideration! 

Temples  of  Idolatry  had  also  emblems  of  Immortality. 
A  winged  circle  in  Assyria  symbolized  eternity.  The 
Egyptian  papyri  give  us  the  pilgrimages  of  the  soul 
through  the  infernal  hemisphere,  and  elaborate  formularies 
for  the  worship  of  the  dead.  Greece  had  her  Olympian 
and  her  Plutonian  regions,  and  from  her  Rome  borrowed 
the  images  by  which  she  represented  the  shadowy  realms 
of  the  departed.  The  gods  and  the  ghosts  of  Homer  and 
Virgil  indicate  the  popular  opinions  of  the  classic  nations 
in  regard  to  the  future  of  man  beyond  the  tomb.  Pindar 
in  his  odes  assumed  the  existence  of  the  dead,  and  the 
grand  lesson  of  Greek  tragedy  was  retribution  in  the 
Stygian  realms.  Philosophy  taught  variously  that  the 
separated  soul  existed  as  a  magnet,  as  fire,  as  light,  as 
air,  as  water,  as  number,  as  harmony,  or,  resembling  a 
star,  as  the  essence  of  motion.  But  when  Plato,  Socrates, 
and  Cicero  would  by  argument  support  the  popular  faith, 
we  see  how  terrible  those  abysses  of  doubt  into  which  the 
most  gifted  spirits  plunged  themselves  in  blind  and  hope- 
less struggle.  Coijfronted  with  the  mysteries  of  life  and 
the  agonies  of  death,  the  belief  of  the  purest  and  wisest 
was  exchanged  for  the  lethargy  of  a  dumb  despair. 

On  mere  childish  assumptions  and  platitudes  Socrates 
based  his  faith  in  a  future  life.  However  we  may  respect 
his  creed,  his  arguments  are  contemptible.  He  proves 
immortality  by  a  mere  play  of  words,  or  deduces  it  from 


JO  A  DAP  TA  TIOM  OF  CHRIS TIA  NI T  V. 

the  fable  of  the  soul's  pre-existence,  and  transmigrations 
into  animals.  With  such  feeble  supports  for  his  faith  it 
is  not  wonderful  that  Socrates,  amid  the  torpors  of  death 
ordered  a  cock  to  ^sculapius,  and  expressed  that  doubt 
as  to  a  hereafter  which  cast  over  the  ancient  philosophy 
a  shadow  from  the  midnight  of  the  soul. 

And  did  Cicero  often  seem  to  glow  with  confidence  in 
God  and  immortality?  It  was  the  mere  enthusiasm  of  the 
orator  kindled  by  his  imagination.  In  his  villa  amid  his 
books,  surrounded  by  friends  and  luxuries,  fresh  from 
the  triumphs  of  the  Senate,  hope  inspired  his  eloquence; 
but  under  the  shadow  of  misfortune  his  unmanly  tears 
and  gloom  made  him  a  spectacle  of  laughter  and  con- 
tempt in  his  own  time  and  for  all  ages.  After  his  sono- 
rous and  splendid  sentences,  which  seemed  bright  with 
assured  immortality,  he  consoled  himself  and  his  friends- 
with  the  prospect  of  absolute  insensibility  in  death.  So 
flimsy  and  unstable  was  the  hope  of  Cicero  in  his  here- 
after. 

Indeed,  the  question  of  our  immortality  is  insoluble  by 
philosophy.  Shall  man  risk  his  eternity  on  the  fact  that 
spring  revives  flowers,  or  that  worms  are  changed  into 
butterflies?  Perverted  into  arguments  such  illustrations 
become  contemptible.  Nor  from  the  desire  in  man  for 
immortality  can  you  establish  the  truth  of  immortality, 
since  for  innumerable  desires  there  is  no  discoverable 
satisfaction,  and  therefore  the  presence  of  the  desire  can- 
not prove  the  fact  of  the  satisfaction.  The  whole  subject 
to  our  human  reason  is  involved  in  mist  and  mystery. 
To  mortals  over  the  grave  is  an  impenetrable  shadow. 
The  stiff  limbs,  the  dumb  lips,  the  blank  in  the  face  of 
the  dead  seem  nature's  proofs  of  an  extinguished  soul. 

In  a  way  different  from  all  other  systems  would  Chris- 
tianity assure  man  eternal  joy.     For  body  and  soul  his 


ADAP  TA  TION  OF  CHRIS  TIANIT  Y.  "J  I 

immortality  is  proposed  as  the  grand  end  of  a  remedial 
scheme  designed  eternally  by  the  Sovereign  Creator  of 
the  universe,  disclosed  dimly  in  the  beginnings  of  our 
race,  age  after  age  revealed  in  the  brightening  light  of 
types,  promises  and  predictions,  entwined  with  the  whole 
history  of  man,  and  converging  itself  into  a  Divine 
Saviour  whose  resurrection,  proved  by  witnesses,  is  a 
pledge  and  symbol  of  a  glory  in  his  own  everlasting 
image,  and  an  ideal  to  exceed  every  mortal  thought, 
aspiration  and  imagination.  This  sublime  and  compre- 
hensive plan  is  represented,  not  as  an  expedient  to  meet 
an  emergency,  but  the  predetermined  purpose  of  the 
Almighty,  to  which  was  subordinated  the  creation  of  our 
world,  and  perhaps  the  universe  itself. 

With  such  a  divine  origin,  ordination  and  end,  the 
scheme  of  Christianity  is  described  as  the  centre  of  all 
human  history,  the  key  to  all  human  progress,  the  answer 
to  all  human  speculations,  the  secret  of  all  human  felicity, 
and  also  the  true  clew,  guide,  and  test  of  each  individual 
human  life.  Compared  with  other  systems  it  excites  also 
our  esteem  by  the  wise  reserve,  the  exquisite  delicacy,  the 
fidelity  of  justice,  and  the  tenderness  of  mercy,  the  apt- 
ness, grandeur  and  majesty  with  which,  in  matchless 
words  and  images,  it  depicts  a  judgment  for  our  world, 
and  the  consequent  everlasting  state  of  men,  where  the 
equities  of  the  divine  administration  will  be  forever  visibly 
vindicated  before  the  universe. 

Christianity  does  not,  therefore,  present  itself  as  a 
speculation.  It  is  not  the  system  of  a  philosopher.  It  is 
not  the  dogma  of  schools.  On  the  contrary,  it  claims  to 
be  a  revelation  of  the  will  of  the  Almighty,  and  impressed 
with  his  authority  as  the  Sovereign  Creator. 

Now  a  scheme  with  such  pretensions  requires  authen- 
tication.    Like  philosophical  opinions,  it  could  not  rest 


72  ADAPTATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

on  philosophical  arguments.  So  supported  it  would  sink 
into  a  mere  human  system.  He  who  claims  that  he  re- 
veals the  will  of  God  must  exhibit  credentials  which 
prove  the  authority  of  God.  In  no  other  way  possible 
or  conceivable  could  he  secure  faith  in  his  mission. 
Attesting  signs  and  wonders  are  in  such  a  case  the  first 
demand  of  reason.  The  scriptural  appeal  to  the  evi- 
dences of  Omnipotence  in  the  miracle,  and  to  Omnisci- 
ence in  the  prophecy,  was  unavoidable.  The  ambassador 
from  Jehovah  must  exhibit  the  signature  of  Jehovah. 

Here  Christianity  differs  from  all  other  religions. 
They  are  without  proof.  Idolatry  attempts  no  argument. 
She  erects  shrines,  altars  and  temples,  but  never  inquires 
into  the  grounds  of  her  faith.  Subjected  to  the  scrutinies 
of  reason,  false  religions  soon  dissolve  into  superstitions. 
But  Christianity  rests  her  claim  on  facts.  She  does  not 
transport  us  to  the  Porch,  Lyceum,  or  Academy  to  hear 
philosophical  disquisitions,  but  surrounds  us  with  the 
witnesses  of  a  risen  and  ascended  Saviour,  and  on  the 
plain  principles  of  legal  evidence  challenges  us  to  investi- 
gate her  testimony.  To  simplify  her  methods,  and  re- 
duce her  proofs  to  eye,  and  ear,  and  touch,  she  con- 
verges all  the  rays  of  her  types,  promises,  prophecies, 
and  miracles  on  the  Person  of  Jesus  Christ.  She  con- 
centrates her  past,  present  and  future  on  a  Person.  She 
embodies  her  doctrine  in  a  Person.  She  expresses  her 
spirit  in  a  Person.  She  causes  all  the  magnificence  of 
her  supernatural  evidence  to  revolve  about  a  Person. 
Her  propitiation  is  by  the  death  of  a  Person.  Her  moral 
system  is  exemplified  in  a  Person.  Her  Immortality  is 
through  the  resurrection  of  a  Person.  The  glory  of  her 
ideal  in  Heaven  is  in  a  Person.  All  her  joys,  employ- 
ments and  exultations  have  their  source  and  centre  in  a 
Person  who  is  the  visible  and  eternal  symbol  of  Godhead 
to  an  adorincr  universe. 


ADAPTATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  73 

Divested  of  philosophical  abstractions,  our  inquiries 
thus  become  exceedingly  practical.  Everything  begins 
and  ends  in  the  grand  crucial  proof  intended  to  show 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Divine  Saviour  of  the  world. 

Moreover,  the  volume  in  which  Christianity  is  conserved 
and  diffused  recommends  itself  to  our  examination.  In 
its  merely  human  aspect  the  Bible  is  venerable  as  the  ac- 
cumulation of  the  wisdom  of  centuries.  Sublimely  it  re- 
cords the  creation  of  our  world.  Penned  by  writers  of 
every  class  of  society,  and  every  variety  of  genius, 
adapted  to  the  most  ordinary  intelligence,  yet  often  rising- 
naturally  into  a  matchless  beauty  and  majesty,  its  words 
at  once  illuminate  the  reason,  console  the  heart,  impress 
the  memory,  and  exalt  the  imagination.  It  is  a  book 
loved  by  the  poor,  studied  by  the  learned,  praised  even 
by  the  skeptic,  and  prized  by  all  nations  and  ages,  a 
guide  in  morals,  a  help  in  trouble,  a  companion  in  soli- 
tude, a  chart  and  a  compass  for  life's  voyage.  The  Bible 
is  thus  a  fitting  depository  for  the  truths  of  salvation, 
equally  suited  to  man  and  worthy  of  God.  Its  character 
is  a  potent  presumption  disposing  to  examine  its  title  to 
a  divine  inspiration  and  authority. 

Nor  has  the  scheme  of  religion  offered  our  world  in 
the  Scriptures  been  cast  carelessly  on  the  billows  of  time. 
Its  preservation  has  been  wisely  committed  to  the  ark  of 
the  universal  Church.  The  professed  Oracles  of  Heaven, 
like  mere  human  compositions,  were  not  left  to  the  casual 
preferences,  and  shifting  prejudices  of  the  changeful 
generations.  Always  the  Bible  has  been  guarded  by  an 
established  organization.  Under  the  old  dispensation  it 
was  watched  by  the  Jewish  priest,  and  under  the  new 
dispensation  it  is  proclaimed  by  the  Christian  minister. 
Over  the  world,  through  the  Church,  the  Scriptures  are 
brought   to  the  head  and  the  heart  by  all  the  power  of 


74  ADA  P TA  TION  OF  CHJilSTIANIT  V. 

human  intelligence  and  human  sympathy.  Christianity 
thus  is  not  a  waif  on  the  solitary  waters.  It  points  the 
inquirer  to  the  conserving  and  witnessing  Church,  and 
by  an  organization  wise,  venerable  and  universal,  pre- 
disposes us  to  the  scheme  intended  to  be  perpetuated  and 
diffused. 

Christianity  thus  seems  to  embrace  whatever  is  desir- 
able or  possible  in  a  religion.  A  revelation  of  the  exist- 
ence and  perfections  of  an  Almighty  Creator!  In  the 
death  of  a  Divine  Saviour  infinite  satisfaction  to  the 
eternal  justice  of  Godhead,  and  infinite  manifestation  of 
the  eternal  love  of  Godhead!  Mercy  free  to  all  who  ac- 
cept its  offer !  Renewal  of  man  by  the  power  of  God! 
A  Divine  witness  of  Pardon  !  A  Divine  Law!  A  Divine 
Light!  A  Divine  Example!  A  Divine  Volume!  A  Di- 
vine Church!  Immortality  through  a  Divine  Saviour! 
A  Heaven  whose  glory  is  the  ideal  of  felicity  !  Salvation 
in  a  plan  of  eternal  love  and  wisdom,  leading  man  to  the 
Fatherhood  of  God ! 

We  have  conceded  that  existence  of  a  desire  does  not 
prove  a  satisfying  object.  Yet  it  raises  a  strong  presump- 
tion that  there  is  or  will  be  such  an  object,  and  hence 
Christianity  is  within  the  circle  of  natural  analogies. 
Vegetables  and  animals  are  supplied  with  Avhat  is  needful 
for  their  organisms.  Usually  for  his  physical  and  intel- 
lectual sustenance  man  finds  provision.  The  eye  needs 
light  and  has  light.  The  ear  needs  air  and  has  air.  The 
lungs  need  oxygen  and  have  oxygen.  The  body  needs 
food  and  has  food.  The  heart  needs  objects  to  love  and 
has  objects  to  love.  The  soul  needs  knowledge  and  has 
knowledge.  Should  not  then  analogy  carry  us  onward  to 
the  supply  of  our  spiritual  yearnings.?  Shall  this  cry  for 
pardon,  purity,  trust,  worship,  immortality  be  forever 
stifled  ?     Were  his  holiest,  loftiest,  mightiest  desires  im- 


AD  APT  A  TION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  75 

planted  in  man  to  mock  and  torture  him  ?  Was  he  made 
to  be  an  orphan  in  the  universe  ?  But  what  shall  fill  this 
void  of  the  soul  ?  Paganism  ?  What!  Shall  we  go  back- 
ward to  the  night  of  a  world's  exploded  superstitions  to 
satisfy  natures  which  must  advance  towards  light  ?  Pagan- 
ism is  a  dumb  witness  to  wants  it  can  never  supply. 
Shall  we  resort  to  Philosophy  ?  Centuries  have  proved 
her  impotence  to  resolve  our  questionings  about  God  and 
Immortality.  Shall  we  embrace  Mohammedism  ?  The 
question  deserves  no  answer.  Or  shall  we  seek  refuge 
in  the  materialisms  of  Science  .<*  In  mathematics  and 
machineries  the  soul  cannot  find  what  it  would  love  and 
adore  forever.  Comfort  comes  not  from  a  Gospel  of  De- 
spair. Nor  can  you  more  repress  the  cry  of  a  soul  than 
you  can  fill  with  straws  the  abysses  of  the  ocean,  stop 
with  dust  the  fires  of  a  volcano,  or  arrest  with  breath  the 
revolutions  of  a  world.  It  is  for  man,  Christianity,  or 
thirst  and  hunger  everlasting. 

Remember  that  these  considerations  are  urged  as  pre- 
sumptions, and  not  as  proofs.  They  are  only  to  prepare 
your  minds  for  the  investigation  of  those  positive  evi- 
dences on  which,  we  believe,  Christianity  is  founded  like 
a  temple  on  eternal  rock. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  permit  me  to  make  a  dis- 
tinction too  often  overlooked. 

In  establishing  a  law  of  the  universe  Science  demands 
that  the  proof  be  irresistible.  The  speculations  of  Coper- 
nicus in  regard  to  the  sun  as  the  centre  of  our  system 
were  insufficient.  Ocular  evidence  through  the  telescope 
of  Galileo  had  to  conclude  the  inquiry.  Nor  were  the 
laws  of  Kepler  accepted  until  confirmed  by  the  methods 
of  Newton  based  on  more  exact  observations.  And  so 
in  all  departments  of  Science.  Proofs  must  be  clear, 
cogent,  overwhelming.     But  far  different  with  the  truth 


•j6  A  DAP  TA  TION  OF  CHRIS  TIA  NIT  Y. 

ascertained.  That  may  be  forever  beyond  our  human 
comprehension.  Each  path  to  the  temple  of  Truth  must 
be  plain  and  direct,  but  when  we  are  within  the  sacred 
edifice  we  may  be  forever  dwarfed  by  our  littleness,  and 
humbled  by  our  ignorance  in  the  midst  of  such  variety, 
magnitude,  and  majesty. 

Shall  it  be  different  with  Christianity?  Always  her 
Scriptures  follow  the  analogies  of  Nature  as  discovered 
by  Science.  The  proofs  of  the  Bible  we  will  show  you 
to  be  clear,  simple,  and  convincing,  while  the  truths  they 
establish,  like  those  of  creation,  are  incomprehensible  as 
the  Godhead  revealed.  Only  the  Deity  can  understand 
the  Deity.  Inferior  natures  must  bow  in  everlasting 
reverence  before  the  mysteries  of  Him  whose  unveiled 
glories  would  yet  more  overpower  feeble  worshippers  in 
this  temple  of  his  universe. 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT, 


77 


LECTURE  VI. 

AUTHENTICITY  AND   GENUINENESS  OE   THE  OLD 
TESTAMENT. 

ON  a  shelf  of  my  library  I  perceive  an  English  Bible. 
It  contains  the  books  of  i\iQ  canon  of  the  Old  and 
the  New  Testaments.  But,  ecclesiastically,  what  is  a 
canon  ?  I  examine  and  ascertain  that  canon  is  from  the 
Greek  word  uaivcov  meaning  rule,  and  was  first  used 
in  the  Scripture  itself.  St.  Clement  and  St.  Irenaeus, 
earliest  among  the  ancient  fathers,  employed  canon  to 
denote  the  whole  number  of  the  sacred  books  supposed 
to  possess  a  divine  authority,  and  from  them  it  passed 
into  universal  currency. 

In  regard  to  my  Bible  I  often  hear  used  the  words 
authentic,  genuine  and  credible.  What  is  authentic? 
What  is  genui/je  ?  What  is  credible  ?  Have  these  words 
the  same  signification.?  I  push  my  inquiries  and  discover 
that  a  book  is  authentic  when  written  by  the  author 
whose  name  it  bears.  Or  should  the  book  be  not  a 
forgery,  and  the  name  of  its  author  be  lost,  it  may  be 
distinguished  as  genuine.  But  without  respect  to  its 
authorship,  it  is  credible  when  it  relates  what  is  true. 

I  then  infer  that  a  work  may  be  authentic,  and  not 
credible,  as  the  "Fairy  Queen,"  which,  written  by 
Spenser,  was  yet  a  poetical  allegory  not  intended  to  be 
believed.  Relating  facts  under  an  assumed  name  the 
"  Travels  of  Anacharsis  "  are  credible  but  not  authentic. 
The    "Arabian   Nights'   Entertainments,"  composed  of 


78  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

fictitious  narratives,  told  by  a  feigned  person,  are  neither 
authentic  nor  credible.  But  the  "  Life  of  Washington," 
which  bears  the  name  of  Irving,  and  records  historic 
truth,  is  both  authentic  and  credible. 

Whatever  the  work,  sacred  or  profane,  questions  touch- 
ing its  authenticity  must  be  determined  by  virtually 
the  same  methods.  I  greatly  admire  the  fiery  eloquence 
of  the  oration  against  Catiline  ascribed  to  Cicero.  Was 
it  indeed  delivered  by  that  distinguished  Roman  in 
the  Senate  Chamber  of  the  Capitol  ?  I  trace  it  from 
age  o  age.  I  find  it  lauded,  quoted,  expounded,  tran- 
scribed, published  back  through  centuries  to  the  time  of 
the  orator  himself.  I  read  his  own  allusions  in  his  let- 
ters to  his  friend  Atticus.  Moreover,  it  bears  every  mark 
of  the  country,  the  period,  and  of  the  genius  of  Cicero, 
and  gave  color  to  his  whole  subsequent  career,  which 
without  it  would  be  inexplicable.  I  am  as  certain  that 
Cicero  is  the  author  of  the  oration  against  Catiline  as  of 
any  other  fact  in  the  universe. 

In  regard  to  all  other  books,  investigations  may  be 
more  or  less  extensive,  complicated  and  conclusive,  but 
they  must  be  by  methods  similar  to  those  just  described. 

I  will  return  to  the  Bible  on  my  shelf.  An  inquiry 
suggests  itself.  I  wish  to  know  whether  it  can  be  proved 
that  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  contained  in  that 
English  version  were  in  those  Hebrew  Scriptures  ex- 
pounded and  authprized  by  Jesus  Christ. 

In  answering  this  question  I  turn  to  the  title-page. 
There  I  read  these  Avords:  "The  Holy  Bible,  containing 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  translated  out  of  the  orig- 
inal tongues,  and  with  the  former  translations  diligently 
compared  and  revised." 

Following  the  sugj.^estions  of  the  title-page  I  discover 
that  the  Old  Testamvmt  of  my  English  Bible  was  trans- 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  79 

lated  from  the  original  Hebrew  under  the  patronage  and 
authority  of  James  the  First,  King  of  Great  Britain,  and 
that  it  had  some  illustrious  predecessors.  Chiefly  these 
were  the  Bishop's  Bible,  the  Geneva  Bible,  Tyndale's 
Bible,  Coverdale's  Bible.  But  in  all  these  translations 
the  common  source  of  the  Old  Testament  was  the  He- 
brew Scripture  used  in  every  Jewish  synagogue  in  the 
world.  Side  by  side  with  any  learned  rabbi  I  might 
now  prosecute  my  inquiries. 

Pushing  my  investigations  I  ascertain  that  there  are 
now  in  existence  nearly  seven  hundred  manuscripts  of 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures  in  various  states  of  completeness 
— in  Spain,  in  Italy,  in  Germany,  in  Russia,  in  England, 
in  the  Orient.  But  we  will  pass  up  the  centuries  to  con- 
sider the 

MASORAH. 

After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  dispersion 
of  the  Jews  over  the  Roman  Empire,  schools  were  estab- 
lished for  the  study  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  whose  ex- 
istence thus  is  proved.  An  academy  at  Tiberias  became 
specially  distinguished.  Here  the  rabbis  collected  all 
the  learning  of  centuries  which  could  determine  the  true 
reading  of  the  Old  Testament  text.  Their  work  was 
called  the  Masorah,  or  Tradition.  Its  notes  and  criti- 
cisms relate  to  letters,  vowels,  points  and  accents.  They 
even  counted  how  often  each  letter  occurred  in  the  He- 
brew Scriptures.  AVe  thus  perceive  not  only  that  the 
Old  Testament  existed  in  those  early  centuries  but  also 
that  it  was  guarded  and  transmitted  by  those  best  qual- 
ified for  the  work. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  second  century  Rabbi  Judah 
completed  the  digest  of  oral  law  and  traditions  called  the 

TALMUD. 

As  the  Masorah  was  intended  to  fix   the  true  text,  so 


8o  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

the  Talmud  was  intended  to  fix  the  true  interpretation  of 
the  text  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  Quoting  from  them 
accurately  and  extensively,  it  becomes  a  witness  to  their 
existence.  The  Talmud  consists  of  two  parts.  First 
there  is  the  Mishna  or  text,  and  second,  the  Gemara 
or  commentary.  The  traditions  of  the  Talmud  are 
ascribed  by  the  Jews  to  early  periods  of  their  history. 
Some  claimed  that  Moses  received  them  on  the  mountain 
of  the  Law.  However  true  or  false  such  pretensions,  the 
Talmud  enables  us  to  trace  the  Old  Testament  to  the 
second  century  before  Jesus  Christ. 

We  will  not  describe  the  Targums  until  we  have 
descended  again  the  stream  of  history  to  mention  the 

HEXAPLA  OF  ORIGEN. 

He  was  the  most  learned  of  all  the  fathers.  Indeed,  in 
any  age  he  would  have  been  a  marvel  of  erudition. 
Origen  devoted  twenty-eight  years  of  his  laborious  life  to 
collecting  and  collating  manuscripts.  Out  of  this  long 
and  learned  toil  grew  his  Hexapla,  which  was  to  be  for  all 
time  a  monument  of  proof  in  behalf  of  the  Scriptures. 
This  great  work,  begun  in  a.d.  231,  was  finished  in  a.d. 
26o,its  name  being  derived  from  the  Greek  sB,  and  anXoo'i^ 
meaning  six  and  fold.  The  Hexapla  contained  (i)  The 
Hebrew  Text,  (2)  A  Text  in  which  Greek  letters  were 
substituted  for  Hebrew,  (3)  The  Version  of  Aquila,  (4) 
The  Version  of  Symmachus,  (5)  The  Septuagint,  (6)  The 
Version  of  Theodotion, 

Here  we  may  introduce 

JOSEPHUS. 

He  was  a  contemporary  of  apostles.  In  his  treatise 
against  Apion  this  great  Jewish  writer  mentions  the  sev- 
eral books  of  the  Old  Testament.  His  "  Jewish  An- 
tiquities "  are  largely  compiled  from  the  sacred  writings. 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  8 1 

PHILO, 
In  the  first  century  of  our  era,  cites  or  names  nearly  all 
the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  about  fifty  years  be- 
fore Jesus  Christ  we  reach  the 

TARGUMS. 

These  are  paraphrases  of  the  various  parts  of  the  Old 
Testament  in  the  East  Aramaean  dialect.  ,  When  in  the 
synagogue  the  Law  was  read  in  Hebrew,  it  was  ren- 
dered into  this  Aramceic,  which  after  the  captivity  gradu- 
ally had  become  the  language  of  the  Jewish  people.  Out 
of  this  custom  grew  the  ten  Targums.  Of  these,  two  only 
need  be  mentioned. 

I.  The  Targum  of  Onkelos.  He  is  supposed  to  have 
been  a  disciple  of  the  celebrated  Rabbi  Hillel  and  to 
have  lived  about  a  half  century  before  Christ.  The  work 
of  Onkelos  renders  each  Hebrew  word  accurately  and  is 
confined  to  the  Pentateuch. 

H.  The  Targum  of  Jonathan  Ben  Uzziel,  also  a  disci- 
ple of  Hillel.  It  treats  of  Joshua,  Judges,  Samuel  and 
Kings,  called  the  "Former  Prophets,"  and  of  Isaiah, 
Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel,  with  the  twelve  minor  prophets, 
this  whole  second  part  being  designated  the  "  Latter 
Prophets." 

According  to  the  universal  tradition  of  the  Jews,  Ezra 
collected  all  the  books  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and 
thus  more  than  five  centuries  before  Christ  completed  the 
canon  of  the  Old  Testament.  After  the  Babylonish  cap- 
tivity synagogues  were  erected  in  every  part  of  Judea, 
and  indeed  in  all  regions  of  the  world  where  the  Jews 
migrated.  If  we  believe  history,  from  the  age  of  Ezra  to 
this  hour,  on  each  Sabbath  of  the  year,  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures have  been  read  and  expounded  in  the  Hebrew  syn- 
agogues. 

Beginning  with  our  English  Bible,  we  have  traced  the 


82  THE  OLD   TESTAMENT. 

Old  Testament,  through  manuscript,  and  Masorah,  and 
Talmud,  and  Hexapla,  and  Targum,  incontestably  to  the 
time  of  Jesus  Christ,  and,  in  our  own  opinion,  more  than 
five  centuries  beyond  our  era.  As  the  line  of  our  argument 
has  been  directly  through  the  Hebrew  original,  a  Jewish 
rabbi  would  employ  substantially  the  same  proof,  and  he 
is  probably  the  best  witness  to  the  canonicity  of  his  own 
Scriptures. 

But  on  the  shelf  of  my  library  I  see  another  volume. 
I  take  it  from  its  place  and  discover  it  to  be  in  Latin. 
The  title-page  informs  me  that  it  is  the 

VULGATE. 

My  curiosity  is  excited,  and  I  begin  a  new  line  of  in- 
quiry. What  is  this  Vulgate.'  I  find  that  for  centuries, 
and  in  every  part  of  our  world,  it  has  been  the  sole  stan- 
dard for  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  In  tlie  sixteenth 
century  a  decree  of  the  Council  of  Trent  gave  formal  and 
final  authority  to  what  had  been  the  usage  of  ages.  Hear 
the  words  of  the  famous  canon  in  regard  to  the  Vulgate: 

"  It  shall  be  deemed  authentic  in  the  public  readings 
of  the  Scriptures,  in  disputations,  in  preaching,  and  ex- 
pounding, and  no  one  shall  dare  to  reject  it  under  any 
pretext  whatever." 

The  Vulgate  received  the  approbation  of  Pope  Gregory 
in  the  sixth  century,  and  was  made  in  the  fourth  under 
the  patronage  of  Pope  Damasus.  Its  author  was  the 
celebrated  St.  Jerome.  His  work  was  so  remarkable  and 
has  exerted  so  wide  an  influence  that  I  will  pause  to 
notice  more  especially  this  learned  author. 

St.  Jerome  was  born  at  Strido  in  Dalmatia.  An  early 
passion  for  rhetoric  and  philosophy  led  him  to  the  courts 
and  schools.  The  literature  of  pagan  Rome  exerted  over 
him  a  fascination.  In  his  dreams  he  w.is  reproached  for 
wishing   to  be    a   Ciceronian    rather    than    a    Christian. 


THE  OLD   TESTAMENT.  83 

After  long  and  terrible  struggles  he  devoted  his  life  to 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  At  Chalcis  a  hermit  in  his  solitary 
cell  he  learned  Hebrew  and  Greek.  Invited  to  Rome, 
he  was  induced  by  Pope  Damasus  to  give  himself  to  re- 
vise the  old  Italic  version  of  the  Bible.  Afterwards  he 
made  the  tour  of  Palestine,  and  in  a  monastery  of  Bethle- 
hem began  his  grand  work. 

Thus  by  a  second  path  of  investigation  in  the  middle 
of  the  fourth  century  we  are  brought  to  the  Vulgate  of 
St.  Jerome,  which  contains  in  Latin  the  whole  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  is  an  irrefutable  witness  to  its  existence 
at  that  early  period.  But  we  have  also  seen  that  the 
Vulgate  was  based  on  the 

OLD    ITALIC. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era  the  Latin  com- 
menced to  supplant  the  Greek  as  an  international  lan- 
guage. Many  translations  of  the  Scriptures  were  made 
from  Greek  into  Latin.  Parts  of  separate  versions  be- 
came united.  Marginal  notes  crept  into  the  text.  Diver- 
sity produced  confusion.  Gradually  other  translations 
were  superseded  by  the  superior  fidelity  and  excellence 
of  the  Old  Italic,  which  obtained  universal  circulation  in 
the  Latin  Church  until  displaced  by  the  greater  merit  of 
the  Vulgate.  The  Old  Testament  was  probably  from  the 
Septuagint,  and  translated  in  the  early  part  of  the  second 
century. 

But  in  preparing  the  Vulgate,  St.  Jerome  must  have 
consulted  not  only  this  Old  Italic  but  also  the 

PESCHITO. 

This  is  in  Syriac,  and  has  a  most  venerable  authority. 
It  belongs  to  the  last  part  of  the  first,  or  the  first  part  of 
the  second  century.  Both  these  versions  presume  also  a 
Hebrew  original  older,  as  we  have  seen,  than  the  time  of 
Jesus  Christ. 


84  THE  OLD   TESTAMENT. 

I  lift  my  eyes  again  to  the  shelf  of  my  library  and  re- 
mark a  volume  larger  than  my  Vulgate.  I  discover  the 
title  to  be  in  Latin.  This  translated  reads,  "  The  Old 
Testament  according  to  the  Seventy  Interpreters."  Here 
then  I  am  confronted  with  the  famous 

SEPTUAGINT. 

On  examination  I  find  that  the  text  is  Greek,  and  this 
starts  me  along  a  third  line  of  inquiry  to  and  beyond  the 
period  of  our  Saviour.  As  the  Vulgate  is  the  standard 
of  the  Occidental,  so  the  Septuagint  is  the  standard  of 
the  Oriental  Church.  I  go  back  in  the  history  of  the 
world  three  centuries.  I  pass  the  period  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. I  traverse  the  middle  ages.  I  travel  beyond  the 
time  of  Justinian.  I  pause  in  the  reign  of  the  great 
Constantine,  who,  in  the  first  part  of  the  fourth  century, 
founded  the  capital  of  the  Eastern  empire,  and  built  the 
original  Church  of  St.  Sophia.  As  now  in  the  cathedral 
of  the  Greek  patriarch  at  Constantinople,  so  then  in  that 
first  St.  Sophia,  the  Septuagint  furnished  the  Old  Testa- 
ment lesson  read  by  the  priest  to  the  people.  It  was  in 
the  Hexapla  of  Origen  already  described  as  formed  in 
the  middle  of  the  third  century.  It  was  quoted  by  the 
fathers.  It  was  quoted  by  the  apostles.  It  was  quoted 
by  our  Saviour.  Before  his  time,  for  nearly  three  cen- 
turies, it  was  in  the  Jewish  home,  the  Jewish  school,  the 
Jewish  synagogue,  in  every  part  of  our  earth  where 
Greek  was  the  spoken  language,  and  the  Jewish  people 
found  a  mart  for  trade,  or  a  refuge  from  persecution. 

It  is,  therefore,  most  important  to  know  the  history  of 
this  Septuagint  version.  Strangely,  the  sword  of  Alex- 
ander prepared  the  way  for  this  Greek  translation  of  the 
Old  Testament.  His  conquests  in  Asia  and  Africa,  by 
the  enlargement  of  the  Greek  empire,  extended  the  use 
of  the  Greek  language.     Alexandria  became  the  new  cap- 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  85 

ital  of  Egypt,  and  under  the  patronage  of  the  Ptolemies, 
a  brilliant  centre  of  commerce  and  learning.  Hither  in 
vast  numbers  crowded  the  Jews,  who,  since  the  Baby- 
lonish captivity,  had  been  gradually  losing  command  of 
their  native  Hebrew,  understood  at  last  only  by  their 
rabbis.  Hence,  in  their  homes  and  in  their  synagogues 
arose  the  necessity  of  a  translation  of  their  Scriptures 
into  Greek.  This  was  accomplished  by  the  munificence 
of  Ptolemy  himself.  The  Septuagint  was  thus  made  nearly 
three  centuries  before  Christ,  in  the  isle  of  Pharos,  near 
Alexandria,  either  by  seventy-two  Jews  brought  by  the 
royal  command  from  Palestine  for  the  benefit  of  the  royal 
library,  or  by  seventy-two  members  of  the  Alexandrian 
Sanhedrim  for  the  benefit  of  the  Alexandrian  Jews,  or 
for  the  mingled  purpose  of  promoting  Greek  learning  and 
Hebrew  convenience.  Whatever  the  particular  circum- 
stances of  the  translation,  there  is  not  a  doubt  as  to  its 
time.  Here  is  a  fixed  and  momentous  fact  in  the  history 
of  the  Old  Testament.  Nearly  three  centuries  before  our 
Saviour,  the  thirty-nine  canonical  books  of  our  author- 
ized English  version  were  translated  from  the  Hebrew 
into  the  Greek,  and  in  the  Greek  have  been  perpetuated 
and  scattered  over  our  world.  We  thus  prove  that  the 
Old  Testament  existed,  not  only  at  the  time  of  Jesus 
Christ,  but  hundreds  of  years  previous  to  his  birth. 

The  Jews  considered  the  sacred  Oracles  their  peculiar 
trust  from  Jehovah.  Guardianship  of  the  Scriptures  was 
their  boast  and  glory.  Never  has  the  purity  of  any  writ- 
ings been  protected  with  such  a  zealous  care.  The  books 
of  Moses  were  deposited  in  the  ark,  and  by  command 
taught  the  households  of  the  people.  They  were  publicly 
read  and  expounded.  A  special  copy  was  made  for  the 
king.  So  exact  and  reverential  were  the  Jews  that  a  dis- 
tinct order  of  men  was  consecrated  to  the  work  of  tran- 


S6  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

scribing  the  national  oracles.  Among  the  scribes  those 
who  copied  the  Scriptures  performed  no  other  labor,  and 
were  so  devout  that  they  would  not  write  Jehovah,  but 
substituted  Adonai  for  the  ineffable  word.  So  fearful 
were  they  of  disturbing  the  text  that  obvious  errors  were 
indicated  in  the  margin.  After  the  captivity  the  Scrip- 
tures were  statedly  read  in  the  synagogues.  We  have 
thus  an  irresistible  argument  not  only  for  the  authen- 
ticity, but  the  purity  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  Corrup- 
tion was  nearly  impossible.  No  volume  was  ever  sur- 
rounded by  such  guards  and  proofs  as  the  Old  Testament. 
Nor  can  we  doubt  that  the  Jews  were  best  qualified  to 
settle  their  own  canon.  It  would  seem  safe  to  admit  the 
books  by  them  received,  and  not  safe  to  acknowledge 
books  by  them  rejected. 

We  have  seen  how  the  purity  of  the  text  of  the  Old 
Testament  was  guarded.  Forgery  was  less  easy  than 
corruption.  Let  us  consider  the  Historical  Books  of  the 
Old  Testament.  The  Pentateuch  contains  the  account 
of  the  beginning  of  the  Jewish  nation  in  the  covenant 
with  Abraham.  It  narrates  the  origin  of  circumcision,  a 
rite  afterwards  enjoined  by  Moses  on  Joshua,  and  since 
observed  in  all  parts  of  the  Hebrew  world.  Moreover, 
the  Pentateuch  records  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  the  passage 
of  the  Red  Sea,  the  announcement  of  the  Law,  the  erec- 
tion of  the  tabernacle,  the  appointment  of  the  Priesthood, 
and  the  apportionment  of  the  land.  Joshua  describes  the 
crossing  of  the  Jordan,  and  the  memorial  at  Gilgal,  after 
which  he  gives  an  account  of  the  possession  by  the  Jews 
of  Canaan.  Both  Moses  and  Joshua  appeal  to  the  nation 
as  having  seen  and  heard  the  facts  recorded.  The  other 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  continue  the  narration  down 
through  many  centuries  until  the  return  from  Babylon. 
As  to  Job,  the  Psalms,  the    Ecclesiastes,  the   Canticles, 


THE  OLD   TESTAMENT.  8/ 

and  also  the  Prophets  with  their  burning  denunciations 
of  sin,  and  their  terrible  predictions  of  punishment,  there 
could  be  few  inducements  for  forgery. 

Suppose  an  adventurer  had  attempted  to  impose  fabri- 
cated accounts,  what  would  the  Jews  have  said?  Hear 
the  inevitable  answer: 

"  This  is  new  to  us.  We  never  heard  of  Abraham  and 
circumcision.  We  never  witnessed  these  plagues,  this 
passage  of  the  sea,  this  promulgation  of  the  Law,  these 
wonders  of  the  wilderness,  and  this  conquest  and  division 
of  Canaan.  No  records  and  no  memorials  of  such  events 
have  been  seen  by  us,  or  transmitted  by  our  fathers." 

You  perceive  how  unanswerable  these  objections.  No 
such  forged  accounts  of  their  origin,  their  institutions  and 
their  history  could  be  imposed  on  any  nation.  Imagine  such 
an  attempt  upon  ourselves!  Could  we  be  persuaded  to 
receive  into  our  national  records  narrations  of  our  colo- 
nial and  revolutionary  times  fabricated  and  false?  Would 
we  ever  give  credence  to  accounts  of  settlements  never 
made,  treaties  never  promulgated,  battles  never  fought, 
defeats  never  experienced,  victories  never  won,  compro- 
miseSy  and  adjustments,  and  confederacies  which  never 
existed,  and  of  a  constitution  never  created?  Could  we 
be  induced  to  believe  that  our  fathers  were  actors  in  mere 
imaginary  events,  and  had  left  records  and  memorials 
of  which  we  had  not  heard  before?  This  could  never  be! 
And  if  we  could  not  be  deceived  by  such  forged,  histories, 
neither  could  the  Jews.  These  are  the  oldest  and  the 
most  famous  people  in  existence,  and  the  most  widely 
scattered  over  the  world.  They  are  united  in  an  organ- 
ization with  rites  and  ceremonies  practiced  for  ages.  For 
the  origin  and  history  of  their  national  institutions  they 
turn  to  the  Scriptures.  Shall  we  not  receive  their  own 
testimony?      Reject  it,  and   we  are   presented   with  the 


88  THE  OLD   TESTAMENT, 

spectacle  of  a  nation  most  renowned  for  its  antiquity,  its 
literature,  its  customs,  and  its  influence,  and  yet  destitute 
of  an  authentic  history. 

Thus  from  three  starting-points  in  the  same  librafy — 
the  English  Version,  the  Vulgate  Version,  and  the  Sep- 
tuagint  Version — we  have  traced  the  Old  Testament 
beyond  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ.  To  this  evidence  might 
have  been  added  proofs  from  quotations,  from  catalogues, 
from  commentaries,  from  readings,  from  manuscripts, 
from  heretic  and  from  infidel,  and  also  from  many  inci- 
dental sources.  But  this  would  have  been  unnecessary 
to  our  present  argument.  All  that  we  now  wish  to  show 
is  that  the  Old  Testament  existed  in  the  time  of  our 
Saviour.  Beyond  this  we  would  be  forced  to  enter  the 
mists  of  the  bewildering  regions  of  the  Higher  Criticism. 
Our  very  object  in  the  publication  of  these  Lectures  is  to 
see  if  there  is  not  some  ascertainable  basis  of  rational 
faith  without  embarking  on  that  wild  sea  of  restless  doubt 
and  reckless  speculation  where  the  voyage  so  often  ter- 
minates in  shipwreck  and  despair. 

In  our  own  view  argument  abundantly  confirms  the 
Hebrew  belief  in  regard  to  the  age,  the  authorship,  and 
the  canonicity  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  with  some  wise, 
conservative  and  learned  suggestions  of  Christian  Schol- 
arship. But  should  we  aspire  to  overthrow  the  Higher 
Criticism,  it  would  be  by  arraying  it  against  itself.  If 
the  erudition  is  vast,  the  theories  are  endless.  Often  the 
authors  have  the  industry  and  ingenuity  of  spiders,  and 
rival  those  insects  in  the  extreme  thinness  and  devious 
entanglements  of  their  inextricable  webs.  Should  the 
comparison  be  with  works  of  human  architects,  the  resem- 
blance would  be  to  aspiring  but  slender  structures  rising 
through  mists  towards  kindred  clouds  from  the  sandiest 
foundations. 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  89 

We  have  said  that  the  theories  of  the  Higher  Criticism 
are  innumerable.  They  are  also  usually  antagonistic. 
Each  is  infallibly  right,  and  each  is  opposed  to  a  score, 
perhaps  a  hundred,  rival  opinions.  For  one  consistent 
scheme,  supported  by  Jewish  tradition  and  rabbinical 
learning,  by  the  authority  of  the  universal  Church,  by 
long  lines  of  eminent  scholars  Catholic  and  Protestant, 
we  are  asked  to  accept  these  ever  multiplying  speculations 
swarming  forth  with  almost  periodic  abundance,  opposed 
to  each  other,  and  only  united  in  their  zeal  against  those 
venerable  views  which  they  so  violently  assault.  There 
could  be  no  greater  demand  on  human  credulity.  This 
Higher  Criticism  resembles  the  marine  torpedo — at  once 
destructive  and  self-destructive.  It  may  injure  others; 
it  tnust  explode  itself.  Its  expounders  remind  us  of  blind 
giants,  furious  against  a  common  foe,  yet  in  the  bewilder- 
ment of  darkness  hewing  each  other  and  filling  their  own 
encampment  with  wounds,  disfigurement  and  death.  If 
we  do  not  admire  the  discordant  blasts  of  the  warriors 
themselves,  we  are  still  less  edified  with  the  toy-trumpets 
of  their  imitators. 


go  EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES. 


LECTURE  VII. 

A  UTHENTICITY  OF  THE  EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES. 

WE  include,  for  convenience,  the  four  Gospels  and 
the  Book  of  the  Acts  under  the  title  of  the 
Evangelical  Histories.  The  proofs  of  their  authenticity 
apply  to  the  other  parts  of  the  New  Testament,  requir- 
ing, however,  some  explanations  in  regard  to  several 
Epistles  and  the  Revelations,  which  were  received  later - 
into  the  canon.  To  avoid  interruption  in  our  argument 
we  confine  ourselves  to  the  Evangelical  Histories.  These, 
moreover,  are  of  transcendent  importance.  The  Gospels, 
especially  should  stand  by  themselves.  They  claim  to 
fulfil  the  grand  Messianic  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  they  furnish  those  Messianic  narratives  which 
are  the  very  life  of  the  Epistles  of  the  New  Testament. 
And,  as  we  shall  see,  on  the  Evangelical  Histories  must  be 
based  the  supreme  and  sufficient  argument  for  Christianity. 
Here  then  we  reach  a  question  of  prime  importance: 
What  are  the  proofs  of  the  authenticity  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Histories  ? 
Let  us  begin  with  the 

MANUSCRIPTS. 

Of  these  there  are  hundreds  in  different  languages. 
Usually  they  are  not  earlier  than  the  tenth  century.  It 
will  only  be  necessary  for  our  purpose  to  describe  a  few 
much  more  ancient,  and  which  are  also  the  most  famous 
of  the  number. 


EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES.  9 1 

First  I  will  mention  the 

CODEX    EPHREMI. 

This  is  a  manuscript  in  vellum  in  the  library  of  Paris, 
and  most  probably  of  the  sixth  century.  The  first  part 
contains  several  Greek  works  of  Ephraim  the  Syrian, 
and  hence  the  name  of  the  codex.  It  is  a  rescriptus,  hav- 
ing most  probably  been  written  over  the  Septuagint,  and 
is  an  Alexandrian  Rescension  of  the  New  Testament  in 
the  Greek  language  of  great  purity.  Most  likely  it  is 
of  Egyptian  origin.  Here,  then,  in  the  sixth  century 
we  find  all  the  Evangelical  Histories. 

Perhaps  one  hundred  years  earlier  is  the 

CODEX    CANTABRIGIENSIS. 

This  manuscript  is  in  the  library  of  the  University  of 
Cambridge,  and  contains  the  Evangelical  Histories  in 
Greek  and  in  Latin  It  was  presented  in  158 1  by  The- 
odore Beza,  having  been  found  in  the  monastery  of  St. 
Irenaeus  in  Lyons. 

Next  we  will  consider  the 

CODEX    ALEXANDRINUS. 

It  is  in  four  folio  volumes.  The  first  three  contain 
the  Old  Testament  with  the  Apocryphal  books,  and  the 
fourth  has  the  New  Testament  together  with  the  Epistle 
of  St.  Clement.  All  are  in  the  Greek.  The  Alexan- 
drinus  was  probably  written  in  the  fifth  century,  but  the 
exact  time  cannot  now  be  ascertained.  Its  great  anti- 
quity is  universally  conceded.  This  venerable  codex 
was  brought  from  Alexandria  in  1628  by  Cyrillus  Lu- 
caris,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  and  presented  to 
Charles  the  First  through  Sir  Thomas  Rowe,  the  English 
ambassador.  In  1753  it  was  deposited  in  the  British 
Museum  where  it  is  now  preserved. 

In  about  the  same  age  we  have  the 


92  EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES. 

CODEX    VATICANUS. 

This  contained  originally  the  entire  Bible  in  Greek, 
including  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  Many  parts  in 
both  are  wanting.  But  the  Evangelical  Histories  are 
complete.  It  has  usually  been  assigned  to  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, but  influenced  by  many  agreements  with  the  Codex 
Sinaiticus,  scholars  now  incline  to  believe  that  the  Vati- 
canus  was  made  by  the  imperial  command  of  the  great 
Constantine.  This  invaluable  manuscript  is  in  the  Vati- 
can Library  at  Rome. 

Most  probably  of  the  same  date  is  the 

CODEX  SINAITICUS. 

It  is  in  Greek,  and  is  assigned  to  the  first  part  of  the 
fourth  century.  There  is  strong  proof  that  it  is  one  of 
the  fifty  copies  ordered  by  the  Emperor  Constantine,  and 
made  under  the  superintendence  of  Eusebius,  Bishop  of 
Csesarea.  It  contains  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  the 
latter  being  perfect.  The  Codex  Sinaiticus  was  dis- 
covered by  Tischendorf  in  1869  in  the  convent  of  Saint 
Catherine,  on  Mount  Sinai,  and  is  in  the  imperial  library 
of  St.  Petersburg. 

We  have  traced  the  Evangelical  Histories  by  indubi- 
table evidence  to  the  fourth  century.  By  several  lines  of 
proof  we  can  connect  them  with  the  apostolic  times. 

After  the  manuscripts  come  the 

CATALOGUES. 

Rufinus,  Presbyter  of  Aquileia,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
fourth  century,  left  a  catalogue  of  the  books  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  adding,  "  These  are  the  volumes 
which  the  fathers  included  in  the  canon,  and  out  of 
which  they  would  have  us  prove  the  doctrine  of  the 
faith." 

St.  Augustine,  the  most  celebrated  of  the  fathers  as  a 
theologian,  about  the  same  time  in  Africa  published  a 


EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES.  93 

list  enumerating  our  own  books  of  the  canon,  and  includ- 
ing no  others. 

St.  Jerome,  author  of  the  Vulgate,  and  eminent  for  his 
learning,  also  about  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century, 
supplied  a  catalogue  similar  to  those  of  Augustine  and 
Rufinus,  only  with  the  intimation  of  a  doubt  in  regard  to 
the  Revelations. 

Philostratus,  Bishop  of  Brescia,  in  the  year  380  gives 
a  catalogue  also  identical  with  our  own,  except  that  it 
omits  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  the  Book  of 
Revelation,  doubted  by  some,  but  by  him  esteemed 
canonical. 

Gregory  Nazianzen,  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  in  the 
same  year  enumerates  the  books  of  the  New  Testament, 
except  the  Revelations,  which,  however,  he  quoted  in 
some  of  his  other  works.  The  Council  of  Laodicea, 
about  the  year  350,  issued  a  catalogue  agreeing  with  our 
own,  except  in  the  omission  of  the  Revelations. 

Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Cnssarea,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
fourth  century  published  a  catalogue  embracing  our 
present  books,  mentioning,  however,  that  the  Epistle  of 
St.  James,  the  Second  of  St.  Peter,  the  Third  of  St.  John, 
and  the  Revelations,  while  questioned  by  some,  were  yet 
generally  received,  and  in  his  opinion  properly.  Cyril, 
Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  made  a  catalogue  of  the  Scriptural 
writings  like  our  own,  except  in  the  omission  of  the 
Revelations. 

Athanasius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  and  the  great  adver- 
sary of  Arius,  about  three  centuries  after  the  death  of 
Christ,  furnished  a  catalogue  of  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament,  which  are  precisely  those  we  now  esteem 
canonical. 

Origen,  the  most  learned  of  all  the  fathers,  in  the 
earlier  part  of  the  third  century,  made   the  first   com- 


94  EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES. 

plete  transmitted  catalogue.  It  agrees  with  our  present 
canon,  and  of  course  includes  the  Evangelical  Histories. 

Most  probably  nearly  a  century  before  Origen,  and 
earliest  of  all  catalogues,  is  the  Muratorian  Fragment, 
discovered  in  the  Ambrosian  Library  at  Milan  in  a  manu- 
script of  the  seventh  or  eighth  century.  It  came  from 
the  Monastery  of  Columbari  at  Boblio.  Muratori,  whose 
name  it  bears,  published  it  about  1740  in  his  Antiquitates 
Italicai.  Although  not  mentioned,  the  Gospel  of  St, 
Matthew  evidently  stood  first  in  the  canon.  The  Frag- 
ment commences  with  a  reference  to  the  Gospel  of  St. 
Mark;  St.  Luke  is  third  in  order,  and  fourth  follows  St. 
John.  The  Book  of  Acts  is  mentioned  as  containing  a 
record  by  St.  Luke  "  of  those  acts  of  all  the  apostles 
which  fell  under  his  own  notice." 

Thus,  a  little  after  the  middle  of  the  second  century  we 
have  in  the  Muratorian  Fragment  proof  of  the  existence 
of  the  Evangelical  Histories. 

Nor  must  we  forget  the  evidence  furnished  by  the 

COMMENTARIES. 

Of  these  there  were  various  kinds  on  different  books 
of  the  New  Testament.  In  the  fourth  century  there 
were  fourteen  expositions.  Julius  Africanus,  Ammonius 
and  Origen  wrote  epistles,  harmonies  and  commentaries 
on  the  sacred  books.  Eusebius  in  the  year  300  says, 
"There  remain  divers  monuments  of  the  laudable  indus- 
try of  those  ancient  ecclesiastical  men,  besides  treatises  of 
many  others  whose  names  we  have  not  been  able  to  learn, 
orthodox  and  ecclesiastical  men,  as  the  interpretation  of 
the  divine  Scriptures  given  by  each  of  them  shows." 

Tatian  in  the  year  170  began  the  list  of  expository 
writers,  and  was  followed  by  Pantaenus,  a  man  of  distin- 
guished learning,  and  the  illustrious  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria. 


EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES.  95 

Testimony  is  also  supplied  by 

HERETICS. 

Numerous  wild  and  fanatical  sects  arose  in  the  early 
ages  of  the  Church.  These  assaulted  the  orthodox  faith, 
and  were  answered  in  writings  which  now  compose  a 
learned  and  extensive  literature.  Both  parties  appealed 
constantly  to  the  Scriptures  as  a  common  standard,  and 
especially  to  the  Evangelical  Histories,  thus  furnishing 
undesignedly  incidental,  but  incontestable  evidence  to 
their  authenticity. 

Moreover,  the  argument  is  fortified  by  the  works  of 

INFIDELS. 

Julian  the  Apostate,  about  three  centuries  after  the 
publication  of  the  Evangelical  Histories,  noticed  by  name 
St.  Matthew,  St.  Luke  and  St.  John,  and  also  events  re- 
corded in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Porphyry,  a  century 
before  Julian,  made  his  attack  on  Christianity.  He  urges 
objections  against  passages  in  St.  Matthew,  St.  Mark  and 
St.  John,  and  also  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  composed 
by  St.  Luke,  thus  embracing  in  his  opposition  each  of  the 
writers  of  the  Evangelical  Histories,  and  establishing  the 
existence  and  the  works  of  all  as  previous  to  his  own  times. 

Celsus,  about  one  hundred  years  after  the  publication 
of  the  Evangelical  Histories,  in  an  effort  to  overthrow 
their  authority,  has  perpetuated  indubitable  testimony  to 
their  authenticity.  He  says,  "  I  could  say  many  things 
concerning  the  affairs  of  Jesus,  and  different  from  those 
written  by  the  disciples  of  Jesus."  He  accuses  Chris- 
tians of  altering  their  Gospels,  takes  notice  of  their  gene- 
alogies and  assails  their  precepts. 

We  derive  another  proof  of  the  authenticity  of  the 
Evangelical  Histories  from  the 

PUBLIC    READINGS. 

Augustine  says,  "  The   canonical  books   of  Scripture 


96  EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES. 

being  read  everywhere,  the  miracles  therein  recorded  are 
well  known  to  all  the  people." 

Cyprian  tells  us,  "  Nothing  can  be  more  fit  than  that 
he  who  has  made  a  glorious  confession  of  the  Lord  should 
read  publicly  in  the  church — that  he  who  has  shown  him- 
self willing  to  die  a  martyr  should  read  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  by  which  martyrs  are  made." 

Origen  bears  witness,  "  Thus  we  do  when  the  Scrip- 
tures are  read  in  the  church,  and  when  the  discourse  for 
explanation  is  delivered  to  the  people." 

Tertullian,  before  Origen,  had  testified,  "  We  come  to- 
gether to  recollect  the  Divine  Scriptures;  we  nourish  our 
faith,  rouse  our  hope,  confirm  our  trust  by  the  sacred 
Word." 

Justin  Martyr,  one  hundred  and  forty  years  after  our 
Saviour,  wrote,  "  The  memoirs  of  the  Apostles  " — called 
by  him  in  other  places  Gospels — "  or  the  writings  of  the 
Prophets  are  read  according  as  the  time  allows.  When 
the  reader  has  ended,  the  President  makes  a  discourse 
exhorting  to  excellent  things." 

Another  species  of  proof  deserves  our  attention. 
Irenseus,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  before  the  close  of  the  second 
century  epitomizes  Christianity  in  a 

CREED. 

This  is  interesting  as  the  earliest  authenticated  attempt 
to  summarize  the  essential  truths  of  the  Evangelical  His' 
torics,  and  also  as  showing  how  long  and  how  widely 
these  must  have  been  disseminated.     IrenKus  says: 

"  The  Church,  though  dispersed  throughout  all  the 
world,  hath  received  from  the  Apostles,  and  their  dis- 
ciples, this  faith  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker 
of  Heaven  and  Earth,  and  in  one  Christ  Jesus,  the  Son 
of  God,  who  became  incarnate  for  our  Salvation;  and  in 
the  Holy  Spirit,  who  proclaimed  through  Prophets  the  dis- 


EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES.  9/ 

pensation  of  God,  and  the  advents,  and  the  birth  from  a 
virgin,  and  the  passion,  and  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead,  and  the  ascension  into  Heaven,  in  the  flesh  of  the 
beloved  Jesus,  our  Lord,  and  His  future  manifestation 
from  Heaven  in  the  glory  of  the  Father,  to  gather  all 
things  in  one,  and  to  raise  up  anew  all  flesh  of  the  whole 
human  race,  in  order  that  to  Christ  Jesus,  our  Lord  and 
God  and  Saviour  and  King,  according  to  the  will  of  the  in- 
visible Father,  every  knee  should  bow  of  things  in  heaven 
and  things  in  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth,  and  that 
every  tongue  should  confess  Him,  and  that  He  should 
execute  just  judgment  towards  all." 

The  Creed  of  Melito,  a  contemporary  of  Irenaeus, 
shows  also  how  his  age  had  already  become  saturated  with 
the  facts  of  the  Evangelical  Histories. 

*'  We  have  made  collections  from  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets  relative  to  those  things  which  have  been  de- 
clared respecting  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  we  may 
prove  to  your  love  that  He  is  perfect  Reason — the  Word 
of  God;  who  was  begotten  before  the  Light;  who  was 
the  fashioner  of  man;  who  was  all  in  all;  who  among  the 
Patriarchs  was  Patriarch;  who  in  the  Law  was  the  Law; 
among  the  Priests,  Chief  Priest;  among  Kings,  Governor; 
among  prophets,  the  Prophet;  among  angles,  the  Arch- 
angel; in  the  voice,  the  Word;  among  spirits,  Spirit;  in 
the  Father,  the  Son;  in  God,  God;  the  King  forever  and 
ever.  For  this  was  He  who  was  Pilot  to  Noah;  who 
conducted  Abraham;  who  was  bound  with  Isaac;  who 
was  exile  with  Jacob;  who  was  sold  with  Joseph;  who 
was  captain  with  Moses;  who  was  the  Director  of  the  in- 
heritance with  Jesus  the  Son  of  Men;  who  in  David  and 
the  Prophets  foretold  his  own  sufferings;  who  was  incar- 
nate in  the  Virgin;  who  was  born  at  Bethlehem;  who  was 
wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes  in  the  manger;  who  was 


98  EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES. 

seen  of  shepherds;  who  was  glorified  of  angles  ;  who  was 
worshipped  by  Magi;  who  was  pointed  out  by  John; 
who  assembled  the  Apostles;  Avho  preached  the  King- 
dom; who  healed  the  maimed;  who  gave  sight  to  the 
blind;  who  raised  the  dead;  who  appeared  in  the 
Temple;  who  was  believed  on  by  the  people;  who  was 
betrayed  by  Judas;  who  was  laid  hold  on  by  the  Priests; 
who  was  condemned  by  Pilate;  who  was  pierced  in  the 
flesh;  who  was  hanged  on  the  tree;  who  was  buried  in  the 
earth;  who  rose  from  the  dead;  who  appeared  unto  the 
Apostles;  who  ascended  into  Heaven;  who  sitteth  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father;  who  is  the  Rest  of  those  that 
are  departed — God  who  is  of  God,  the  Son  who  is  of  the 
Father,  Jesus  Christ,  the  King  forever  and  ever,  Amen!" 
In  the  previous  lecture  on  the  authenticity  of  the  Old 
Testament  we  described  the 

VERSIONS. 

These  also  bear  testimony  to  the  Evangelical  Histo- 
ries, which  are  contained  in  the  Vulgate  of  the  fourth 
century,  and  the  Old  Italic,  and  Peschito  of  the  earlier 
part  of  the  second  century  after  the  birth  of  our  Saviour. 

But  no  proof  of  the  authenticity  of  the  Evangelical 
Histories  is  so  cogent,  so  palpable  and  so  unanswerable 
as  that  supplied  by  the  Fathers  of  the  Church  in  their 
innumerable 

QUOTATIONS. 

Beginning  a  few  years  after  our  Saviour  we  find  these 
invaluable  extracts  from  the  Scriptures.  We  now  con- 
fine our  remarks  especially  to  the  Evangelical  Histories. 
The  quotations  are  seldom  in  the  precise  words  and 
order  of  the  original.  Such  a  method  was  in  accord- 
ance with  the  custom  of  the  times.  In  the  same  in- 
formal way  passages  were  taken  from  the  Old  Testament, 
not  only  by  Greek  and  Latin   Fathers  but   even  by  our 


EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES.  99 

Saviour  and  His  Apostles.  To  suppose  these  quotations 
from  some  perished  originals  is  a  gratuitous  assertion 
without  one  trace  of  proof.  We  recognize  them  as  from 
our  own  familiar  Evangelical  Histories.  Nor  will  the 
Higher  Criticism  disturb  the  conclusion  of  our  common 
sense.  It  has  run  its  circle  and  perished  in  the  counter- 
currents  of  its  own  antagonisms.  Acids  and  alkalies  of 
hostile  theories  have  neutralized  each  other.  Opposing 
electrical  forces  have  adjusted  themselves  into  an  equi- 
librium. The  sky  is  cleared  by  its  own  violence,  and 
we  may  once  more  discern  plain  truth  by  plain  reason. 
St.  Clement,  about  fifty  years  after  the  death  of  our  Sa- 
viour, in  his  two  brief  Epistles  quotes  St.  Matthew  nine 
times,  St.  Luke  four  times  and  the  Acts  once.  St.  Bar- 
nabas quotes  St.  Matthew  twice,  St.  Mark  once  and  St. 
John  once.  St.  Ignatius  in  his  acknowledged  epistles 
quotes  St.  Matthew  nineteen  times,  St.  Luke  seven  times, 
St.  John  twenty-nine  times  and  the  Acts  five  times.  In 
the  year  107  he  suffered  martyrdom  at  Rome. 

St.  Polycarp,  who  wrote  to  the  Philippians  in  the  first 
part  of  the  second  century,  quotes  St.  Matthew  seven 
times,  St.  Luke  once  and  the  Acts  once. 

But  the  force  of  the  argument  can  only  be  realized 
by  extracts  from  these  venerable  authors,  called  Apos- 
tolic Fathers  because  they  had  lived  in  the  Apostolic 
times.  Some  of  them  were  certainly  contemporaries  of 
St.  John. 

St.  Clement  quotes  evidently  from  St.  Matthew  where 
he  says,  "  Be  merciful  that  ye  may  obtain  mercy  ;  for- 
give that  it  may  be  forgiven  you  ;  as  ye  do  it  shall  be 
done  unto  you  ;  as  ye  judge  so  shall  ye  be  judged  ;  as 
ye  are  kind  so  kindness  shall  be  shewn  unto  you  ;  with 
what  measure  ye  mete  with  the  same  it  shall  be  measured 
to  you." 


lOO  EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES. 

St.  Barnabas  precedes  a  quotation  from  St.  Matthew 
by  saying,  "  It  is  written,"  "  Many  are  called,  but  few 
are  chosen."  He  has  also  words  contained  in  each  of 
the  first  three  Gospels,  "  He  came  not  to  call  the  right- 
eous but  sinners  to  repentance." 

St.  Ignatius  could  supply  many  quotations  from  the 
Evangelical  Histories.  The  books  from  which  the  fol- 
lowing extracts  are  taken  will  be  obvious  to  all  readers 
of  the  New  Testament:  "  For  the  tree  is  known  by  its 
fruit.  As  Jonah  was  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the 
whale's  belly,  so  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be  three  days  and 
three  nights  in  the  heart  of  the  earth.  For  there  are 
many  wolves  in  sheep's  clothing.  Be  ye  perfect  as  also 
your  Father  in  Heaven  is  perfect.  For  a  spirit  hath  not 
flesh  and  bones  as  ye  see  Me  have.  Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  I  am  the 
way  and  the  life.  I  have  glorified  Thee  upon  the  earth  ; 
I  have  finished  the  work  Thou  gavest  me.  The  word 
was  made  flesh.  I  can  of  mine  own  self  do  nothing. 
Father  forgive  them ;  they  know  not  what  they  do. 
Watch  ye  and  be  sober."  "  The  disciples  were  called 
Christians  at  Antioch.  It  is  hard  to  kick  against  the 
pricks."  Paul  is  called  "a  chosen  vessel."  "This 
same  Jesus  who  is  taken  from  you  into  Heaven  shall 
so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye  have  seen  Him  go  into 
Heaven." 

St.  Polycarp  affords  the  following  :  "  Who  raised  up 
from  the  dead,  having  loosed  the  bands  of  the  grave. 
The  spirit  truly  is  willing  but  the  flesh  is  weak.  Judge 
not  that  ye  be  not  judged.  Blessed  are  the  poor  and 
those  that  are  persecuted  for  righteousness  sake,  for 
theirs  is  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

After  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  quotations  of  the  eccle- 
siastical writers  are  so  numerous  that  we  could  restore 


EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES.  lOI 

the  substance  of  the  Scriptures  should  every  copy  in  the 
world  be  obliterated. 

Remember  that  Clement  and  Ignatius  were  contempo- 
raries of  St.  John,  and  Polycarp  his  disciple.  This  con- 
nects the  Apostolic  Fathers  with  the  Apostolic  Age. 

But  tracing  the  Evangelical  Histories  from  the  two 
hundred  translations  of  our  times  scattered  over  our 
world,  through  manuscripts,  and  catalogues,  and  read- 
ings, and  creeds,  and  versions  and  quotations,  to  the  ear- 
liest Christian  writers,  by  four  additional  links  we  com- 
plete the  long  chain  of  evidence  and  bind  it  forever  to 
the  authorship  which  has  been  transmitted  through  the 
ages  by  the  Universal  Church. 

We  will  mention  first  the  testimony  of 

EUSEBIUS  AND  PAPIAS, 

The  former  was  the  learned  Bishop  of  Coesarea,  and  an 
intimate  friend  of  the  Great  Constantine.  His  Ecclesi- 
astical History  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  monuments 
of  his  times.  It  was  written  before  325,  the  year  of  the 
Nicene  Council. 

Eusebius  has  preserved  a  most  remarkable  extract  from 
Papias,  who  said: 

"  For  I  have  never  like  many  delighted  to  hear  those 
that  tell  many  things,  but  those  that  teach  the  truth,  neither 
those  that  record  foreign  precepts,  but  those  that  are 
given  by  the  Lord  to  our  faith  and  that  came  from  the 
truth  itself.  But  if  I  met  with  any  one  who  had  been  a 
follower  of  the  elders  anywhere,  I  made  it  a  point  to 
inquire  what  were  the  declarations  of  the  elders.  What 
was  said  by  Andrew,  Peter,  or  Philip.  What  by  Thomas, 
James,  John,  Matthew,  or  any  other  disciple  of  the 
Lord." 

Here  was  Papias  who  saw  and  heard  those  who  knew 
the   Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ.      He  had  conversed  with 


r02  EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES. 

those  claiming  to  be  acquainted  with  the  very  authors  of 
Evangelical  Histories.  With  such  opportunities  of  Infor- 
mation In  regard  to  the  original  writers,  what  does  Paplas 
say?     Hear  his  testimony: 

"  Matthew  composed  his  history  in  the  Hebrew  dialect 
and  every  one  translated  It  as  he  was  able.  Mark  being 
the  Interpreter  of  Peter,  whatsoever  he  recorded  he  wrote 
with  great  accuracy,  but  not,  however,  In  the  order  in 
which  it  was  spoken  or  done  by  our  Lord,  but  as  before 
said,  he  was  in  company  with  Peter,  who  gave  him  In- 
struction as  was  necessary." 

But  it  Is  urged  that  Papias  omits  to  mention  the  Gos- 
pels of  St.  Luke  and  St.  John.     Through 

IREN.EUS  AND  POLYCARP 

We  carry  the  chain  of  evidence  to  the  writers  of  all  the 
Gospels. 

Of  his  opportunities  for  knowledge  Irenseus  testifies: 

"But  Polycarp  also  was  not  only  Instructed  by  Apos- 
tles and  conversed  with  many  who  had  seen  Christ,  but 
was  also  by  Apostles  in  Asia  appointed  bishop  of  the 
Church  of  Smyrna,  whom  I  also  saw  in  my  early  youth, 
for  he  tarried  a  very  long  time,  and  when  a  very  old  man 
gloriously  and  most  nobly  suffering  martyrdom  departed 
this  life,  having  always  taught  the  things  he  had  heard 
from  the  Apostles,  and  which  the  Church  has  handed 
down  and  which  alone  are  true." 

Thus  Polycarp,  who  had  heard  the  Apostles,  instructed 
Irenaeus,  and  Irenseus  must  hence  surely  know  who  wrote 
those  Evangelical  Histories  he  himself  quoted  and  ex- 
pounded and  considered  the  very  source  and  life  of  his 
faith.  But  Irenaeus  ascribes  the  Gospels  to  the  authors 
whose  names  they  now  bear.     Hear  his  words: 

"  John  relates  His  original,  effectual  and  glorious 
generation  from  the  Father,  thus  declaring:  In  the  be- 


EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES.  I03 

ginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God 
and  the  Word  was  God.  Luke  taking  up  his  priestly- 
character  commenced  with  Zacharias  the  priest  offering 
sacrifice  to  God.  Matthew  again  relates  His  generation 
as  a  man,  saying:  The  Book  of  the  generations  of  Jesus, 
the  son  of  David,  the  son  of  Abraham.  Mark,  on  the 
other  hand,  commences  with  the  prophetical  spirit  com- 
ing from  on  high  on  men,  saying:  The  beginning  of 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  it  is  written  in  Esaias  the 
Prophet." 

But  in  addition  to  this  unanswerable  cumulative  evi- 
dence it  is  certain  that  the  Gospels  and  the  Acts  could 
only  have  been  written  within  a  brief  period  after  the 
death  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  conquests  of  Alexander  had 
diffused  the  Greek  language,  and  the  conquests  of  Pompey 
had  diffused  the  Latin  language  among  the  Jews,  while 
their  spoken  language  after  the  captivity  was  the  Ara- 
maeic,  a  corruption  of  the  Hebrew  with  the  Chaldee.  The 
three  languages  over  the  Cross  were  pictures  of  the  na- 
tion. They  sprang  from  the  condition  of  the  Jews, 
represented  that  condition,  and  in  that  condition  only 
were  possible.  And  thus,  also,  with  the  Evangelical  His- 
tories. These  are  filled  with  allusions  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  country  as  they  existed  in  the  times  of  the 
Apostles,  and  which  were  wholly  changed  a  few  years 
after  the  destruction  of  the  temple  and  the  desolation  of 
the  country  by  the  Romans.  How  the  words  centurion, 
and  praetor,  and  proconsul,  and  Ccesar,  and  Ai/gustus 
indicate  a  Latin  domination!  The  Evangelical  Histories 
are  in  Greek,  yet  not  in  classic  Greek,  but  in  just  such  a 
Judaized  Greek  as  would  have  been  written  in  those 
times  and  by  those  authors,  and  could  have  been  writ- 
ten in  no  other  times  and  by  no  other  authors. 
Words  are  constantly  used  from  the  Aramaeic,  or  daily 


I04  EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES. 

dialect  of  the  people.  Everywhere  are  visible  traces  of 
the  three  nationalities  which  gave  character  to  Judea. 
A  century  after  the  ruin  of  city  and  temple,  the  style  of 
the  Gospels  and  the  Acts  would  have  been  impossible, 
and  all  the  researches  and  explorations  of  our  times,  in 
the  minutest  circumstances  confirm  the  authenticity  of 
these  five  most  wonderful  books  of  the  Scriptures. 

From  manuscript,  from  catalogue,  from  commentary, 
from  lectionary,  from  version,  from  creed,  from  heretic 
and  from  infidel,  from  particular  authors,  from  incidental 
facts  we  have  drawn  our  arguments.  And  there  is  no  con- 
tradictory proof  deserving  consideration.  Like  rays  of 
light  all  these  lines  of  evidence  converge  towards  the 
authenticity  of  the  Evangelical  Histories.  Nothing  by 
human  reason  can  be  more  surely  established. 

One  other  consideration  crowns  our  subject.  The 
Church  has  extended  herself  over  the  world.  She  has 
her  Scriptures,  her  sacraments,  her  ministrations,  her 
observances.  Her  existence  is  the  most  influential  fact  in 
the  history  of  man.  Amid  all  the  centuries  of  strife  that 
have  filled  our  earth  with  blood  and  flame  and  death,  the 
Church  has  deepened  and  widened  her  sway  over  humanity. 
At  this  hour  she  is  the  most  potent  force  in  our  boasted 
maturity  of  civilization.  And  there  is  promise  of  vigorous 
and  dominant  power  over  all  the  future  of  our  race. 
Could  such  an  institution  be  without  a  history  ?  Shall  she 
have  no  knowledge  of  her  own  origin  .?  Shall  she  possess 
no  record  of  tlie  rise  of  her  own  doctrines  and  obser- 
vances.'* To  the  Evangelical  Histories  slie  refers  us  for  the 
narrative  of  her  birth,  her  growth  and  her  authority.  She 
knows  no  other  and  there  is  no  other.  Her  writers  and 
her  councils,  representing  the  best  learning  of  the  world, 
from  the  beginning  of  Christianity  ascribed  the  Evangeli- 
cal Histories  to  their  present  reputed  authors.    In  addition 


EVANGELICAL  HISTORIES.  IO5 

to  all  the  other  proofs  we  have  advanced,  the  Church  is 
thus  a  perpetual  witness  to  the  authenticity  of  the  five  fun- 
damental books  on  which  rest  her  faith  and  authority,  and 
in  support  of  no  other  volumes  except  the  Scriptures  has 
there  ever  been  such  an  array  of  cumulative  and  invinci- 
ble evidence. 


1 06  SUPERNA  TURAL  E  VIDENCE. 


LECTURE  VIII. 

SUPERNATURAL  EVIDENCE. 

BY  Supernatural  Evidence  we  mean  a  direct  inter- 
position of  the  Deity  intended  to  attest  his  Reve- 
lations. But  Science  urges  that  this  is  impossible.  She 
establishes  the  reign  of  Law.  Phenomena  of  the  universe 
to  her  seem  bound  together  in  unbroken  succession. 
Indeed,  Science  only  recognizes  this  invariable  sequence, 
leaving  to  Philosophy  discussions  about  the  relations  of 
cause  and  effect.  Induction  is  her  province,  and  it  is 
not  wonderful  that  she  regards  with  suspicion  the  intru- 
sion of  the  Supernatural  into  that  rigid  order  which  she 
is  always  observing,  studying,  and  confirming.  And 
within  just  limits  the  jealousy  of  Science  is  right.  Unless 
convincingly  attested  no  man  should  credit  a  display  of 
Omnipotence  in  the  Miracle,  and  of  Omniscience  in  the 
Prophecy. 

Sometimes  by  what  seem  weak  concessions  the  advo- 
cates of  the  Scripture  would  soften  the  oppositions  of 
Science.  It  is  said  apologetically  that  the  supernatural 
is  not  necessarily  a  violation  of  the  order  of  nature,  but 
that  it  may  invisibly  direct  the  order  of  nature  for  its  own 
purposes.  Gravitation  draws  to  the  earth  a  stone.  I 
interpose  my  hand,  and  arrest  its  fall,  I  do  not  violate 
the  law  of  gravity.  It  is  only  counteracted  by  the  law 
of  my  superior  physical  force.  Man,  the  mouse,  the 
wren,  even  the  fly  are  continually  nullifying  and  conquer- 
ing the  attraction  of  the  globe  of  the  earth.     Indeed,  in 


SUPERNA  TURAL  E  VIDENCE.  I O/ 

the  same  way  to  mind  and  muscle  we  owe  all  our  tri- 
umphs over  nature,  marvellous  to  a  barbarian  as  miracles 
to  a  philosopher.  Hence  it  is  argued,  as  man  sets  aside 
a  lower  law  by  a  higher  law  without  the  violation  of  law, 
so  may  the  Deity  in  supernatural  attestations  of  revela- 
tion. And  this  is  undeniable.  The  Almighty  Power 
may  always  thus  work.  Yet  such  an  explanation  has  no 
force  as  an  argument.  It  does  not  touch  the  true  point 
of  inquiry.  The  question  is  not  Jio7u  the  supernatural  is 
exerted,  but  is  the  supernatural  exerted.  In  our  proof 
we  deal  with  the  fact,  and  not  with  the  mode.  We  do  not 
inquire  whether  the  laws  of  nature  have  been  controlled, 
or  suspended,  or  violated,  but  whether  a  miracle  has  been 
proved  by  the  testimony  of  credible  witnesses. 

Divergences  arise  from  differing  views  in  regard  to  the 
Deity,  By  denying  a  God,  Atheism  stops  the  inquiry. 
The  old  Deism  reached  the  same  result  by  asserting  that 
God  made  the  universe,  and  having  wound  his  vast 
machine,  left  it  without  his  superintendence  to  be  moved 
by  its  original  impulse.  Pantheism,  confounding  God 
and  the  universe,  and  matter  with  spirit,  affirms  in  nature 
one  monotonous  and  everlasting  succession.  The  funda- 
mental principle  in  each  makes  supernatural  evidence 
incredible.  With  Atheist,  Deist,  and  Pantheist,  logically, 
there  can  be  no  argument  on  the  subject  of  miracle  and 
prophecy.  Their  premises  contain  their  conclusion,  and 
in  the  definition  of  each  is  involved  a  denial  of  the  possi- 
bility of  the  supernatural. 

On  the  contrary,  let  me  believe  in  the  existence  and 
perfection  of  an  infinite  Personal  Creator!  Let  me  be 
convinced  that  the  universe  was  made  by  Him,  and  is  an 
expression  of  His  love.  His  wisdom  and  His  power!  Let 
me  admit  that  always  He  is  in  all  its  parts  to  supply  its 
force,  to  ordain  its  law,  and  direct  it  to  the  accomplish- 


1 08  5  UPERNA  TURA  L  E  VIDENCE. 

ment  of  His  own  everlasting  plans !  Every  difficulty 
vanishes.  Nothing  more  natural  and  reasonable  than  that 
a  Personal  Creator  infinite  in  His  power  and  perfection 
should  interpose  with  a  beneficent  scheme  for  the  present 
and  eternal  happiness  of  His  feeble  and  suffering  creatures. 
How  He  may  confer  His  favor  I  may  not  suggest.  In- 
deed I  prefer  leaving  all  to  His  own  sovereignty.  Be- 
lieving in  such  a  God  the  supernatural  is  credible,  and 
not  believing  in  such  a  God  the  supernatural  will  seem 
absurd.  It  will  be  henceforth  presumed  that  our  former 
arguments  have  been  sufficient  to  prove  such  a  God  the 
cause  of  the  universe. 

But  permit  me  to  pass  from  these  general  observations, 
and  to  consider  the  specific  objections  urged  against  the 
miracles  and  the  prophecies  of  the  Scriptures. 

I  will  begin  with  the  celebrated  argument  of  Mr. 
Hume,  which  has  been  abridged  as  follows  : 

"  Our  belief  in  any  fact  from  the  testimony  of  an  eye- 
witness is  derived  from  no  other  principle  than  our 
experience  in  the  veracity  of  human  testimony.  If  the 
fact  attested  be  miraculous  there  arises  a  contest  of  two 
opposite  experiences,  or  proof  against  proof.  Now  a 
miracle  is  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature,  and  as  a  firm 
and  unalterable  experience  has  established  these  laws, 
the  proof  against  a  miracle  from  the  nature  of  the  fact  is 
as  complete  as  any  argument  from  experience  can  possi- 
bly be  imagined,  and  if  so,  it  is  an  undeniable  consequence 
that  it  cannot  be  surmounted  by  any  proof  whatever 
derived  from  human  testimony." 

Mr.  Hume  ingeniously  places  in  one  scale  the  fact 
that  men  falsify,  and  in  the  other  scale  the  fact  that,  in 
our  experience  nature  is  unchangeable,  and  turns  the  bal- 
ance in  favor  of  the  impossibility  of  establishing  a  miracle 
by  witnesses. 


SUPERNATURAL  EVIDENCE.  IO9 

But  observe  the  foundation  of  the  argument!  Mr. 
Hume  asserts  that  experience  has  proved  the  invariabil- 
ity of  the  order  of  nature.  Whose  experience?  Does  he 
mean  his  own  experience,  the  experience  of  all  who  may 
read  his  essay,  of  every  man  of  his  own  generation  ? 
Conceded!  Does  he  mean  the  experience  of  centuries 
preceding  his  own  age?  Conceded!  Does  he  mean  the 
experience  of  men  one  hundred  years  after  the  death  of 
Christ  ?  Still  conceded!  Or  does  he  mean  the  experience 
of  the  apostolic  witnesses  who  testify  to  the  resurrection 
of  their  Master?  This  is  the  precise  fact  in  dispute.  The 
very  question  is,  did  witnesses  in  the  time  of  Jesus  see  His 
miracles,  behold  Him  after  His  resurrection  and  look  on 
Him  ascending  into  Heaven?  Mr.  Hume  asserts  what 
he  should  prove.     In  plain  language,  he  begs  the  question. 

Besides,  as  has  been  well  urged,  he  makes  experience 
synonymous  with  inexperience.  In  a  trial  for  murder  a 
thousand  witnesses  might  swear  that  they  did  not  see  the 
accused  stab  the  deceased.  But  they  were  not  present 
and  could  not  behold  the  assassination.  All  the  members 
of  the  human  family  might  have  been  absent  from  the 
scene  but  one,  and  yet  the  experience  of  that  one  would 
outweigh  the  inexperience  of  the  rest  of  earth's  millions. 

Only  a  few  of  mankind  could  possibly  witness  any  super- 
natural attestation.  Manifested  to  all,  the  supernatural 
would  have  no  more  force  than  the  natural.  Only  in- 
frcquency  can  give  value  to  miracles.  The  question  is, 
can  we  believe  the  few  witnesses  who  testify  to  the  facts  ? 

The  application  of  Mr.  Hume's  argument  leads  to  ab- 
surd results.  A  few  centuries  since  no  man  believed  that 
our  earth  turned  on  her  axis  and  revolved  about  the  sun. 
The  eye  testified  against  the  truth.  When  Copernicus 
announced  his  system,  it  was,  in  Mr.  Hume's  sense,  op- 
posed to  the  experience  of  the  whole  world.     Yet  the  ar- 


I  lO  SUPERNA  TUBAL  E  VIDENCE. 

guments  of  reason  overcame  the  testimony  of  sight.  But 
had  Mr.  Hume's  speculations  been  accepted,  the  system 
of  Copernicus  could  never  have  gained  a  believer  against, 
what  he  terms,  the  experience  of  mankind  through  all  the 
ages  of  human  history.  The  argument  is  self-destructive. 
It  would  sweep  away,  not  only  Revealed  Religion,  but 
Inductive  Science,  and  keep  our  race  in  the  childhood 
of  perpetual  barbarism.  Every  savage  could  urge  his 
inexperience  as  a  reason  for  his  disbelief,  and  prove  him- 
self as  wise  as  our  prince  of  philosophers. 

Strauss  suggested  a  theory  which  has  none  of  the  in- 
genuity of  Hume.  He  held  that  the  Evangelical  His- 
tories, several  centuries  after  Christ,  shaped  themselves 
from  the  traditional  myths  of  the  Church  into  records  of 
miracles  so  as  more  and  more  to  conform  the  career  of 
the  supposed  Messiah  to  the  prophetic  descriptions  of 
the  Old  Testament.  Such  a  theory  can  be  tested  only 
by  facts.  By  arguments  which  to  me  seem  overwhelm- 
ing it  has  been  shown  that  the  Evangelical  Histories,  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  first  century,  were  composed  by  their 
reputed  writers,  and  this  established,  destroys  the  very 
foundations  of  the  theory  of  Strauss.  Rejecting  the 
proofs  adduced,  my  Reason  could  be  convinced  of  noth- 
ing, and  would  sink  into  the  gloom  of  universal  doubt. 
Indeed,  the  German  Higher  Criticism,  as  it  complacently 
styles  itself,  by  its  spirit,  and  methods,  like  the  sophism 
of  Hume,  leading  inevitably  to  the  overthrow  of  all  be- 
lief, destroys  not  only  philosophy,  but  the  possibility  of 
philosophy. 

Dr.  Carpenter,  of  the  University  of  London,  has  ex- 
panded an  argument  foreshadowed  in  his  "  Mental  Physi- 
ology." To  the  facts  in  Abercrombie  he  has  added  some 
striking  cases  of  sense-illusion.  Persons  of  superior 
shrewdness  and  intelligence,  on  the  testimony  of  eye  and 


SUPERNA  TURAL  E  VIDENCE.  1 1 1 

ear,  with  the  utmost  assurance  have  reported  things  after- 
wards proven  never  to  have  occurred.  Multitudes  have 
been  misled  into  a  belief  of  sights  and  sounds  which  ex- 
isted only  in  imagination.  Indeed,  the  senses  of  men 
are  liable  to  daily  impositions.  Now  it  is  urged  that  in 
the  same  way  the  miracles  of  the  Bible  were  deceits 
practiced  on  the  witnesses  by  themselves.  But  if  the  ar- 
gument have  force  it  must  apply  to  every  thing  in  life, 
and  shake  confidence  in  whatever  the  senses  testify. 
Are  not  the  Physical  Sciences  founded  on  the  very  evi- 
dence this  theory  would  discredit  1  Without  observation 
by  the  senses  could  either  Chemistry,  or  Geology,  or  As- 
tronomy have  existed.'  Disbelieve  what  your  eye  sees 
through  the  telescope,  and  where  will  be  your  Science  of 
the  Heavens  .''  Distrust  your  ear,  and  your  finger,  and  the 
telegraph  is  an  unmeaning  toy.  The  argument  of  Dr. 
Carpenter  would  close  his  laboratory,  and  make  impos- 
sible his  profession,  and  sweep  away  the  very  basis  of  the 
splendid  superstructure  of  our  Modern  Science. 

Despite  all  theories,  practically  the  senses  are  reliable. 
They  are  trusted  by  the  very  men  who  would  shake  faith 
in  their  testimony.  We  learn  to  discriminate.  It  is  dis- 
covered that  illusions  and  delusions  are  abnormal,  spring- 
ing from  fear,  from  fancy,  from  disease,  from  derange- 
ment. One  sense  corrects  another,  and  over  all  Reason 
stands  sentinel.  Mistakes  seldom  occur,  and  on  the 
testimony  of  their  senses  men  daily  invest  their  money, 
and  trust  their  lives. 

The  feebleness  of  the  argument  is  best  seen  when 
applied  to  the  miracles  of  the  Bible.  We  will  select  those 
relating  to  the  children  of  Israel  in  their  flight  from 
Egypt  and  journey  through  the  wilderness.  Numbering 
about  two  millions  they  were  the  witnesses  to  whom 
Moses  constantly  appeals.     This  multitude  thought  they 


112  SUPERNATURAL  EVIDENCE. 

saw  the  Nile  turned  into  Llood  when  it  was  always  water; 
thought  they  saw  the  air  filled  with  locusts,  and  the  earth 
covered  with  vermin  when  neither  had  been  ever  infested; 
thought  that  fire  fell  from  heaven,  and  cattle  were  killed 
and  infants  destroyed,  and  that  for  three  days  Egypt  was 
in  sunless  gloon),  whereas  the  whole  was  a  mere  illusion. 
A  nation  persuaded  itself  that  it  had  travelled  for  miles 
on  the  bottom  of  the  sea  between  walls  of  water,  and  had 
sung  in  triumph  on  the  other  side,  when  not  a  man  had 
gone  through  the  deep,  and  not  a  note  of  exultation  had 
been  uttered.  We  are  asked  to  believe  that  these  two 
millions  of  people  supposed  that  they  received  th'^ir  law 
from  a  burning  mountain,  and  were  daily  supplied  with 
food  during  forty  years  in  the  wilderness,  whereas  in  fact, 
not  a  word  was  ever  heard  from  the  top  of  Sinai,  and  not 
a  crumb  of  manna  fell  to  earth  from  heaven.  Now,  that 
the  narratives  may  be  false  is  possible.  That  the  whole 
story  may  be  a  fabrication  is  conceivable.  But  that  mil- 
lions of  men  during  forty  years  cheated  themselves  with 
illusions  in  matters  touching  their  lives,  is  an  absurdity. 
Such  impositions  on  the  senses  are  impossibilities. 

M.  Renan  is  a  poet  in  prose  who  paints  a  picture 
better  than  he  points  an  argument.  He  claims  that,  in 
the  supreme  all-including  and  all-evidencing  miracle  of 
the  Bible,  the  heart  seduced  into  deception  the 
eye,  the  ear  and  the  finger.  After  His  death  the  affec- 
tions of  His  disciples  converted  their  dead  Master  into  a 
phantom  which  they  mistook  for  a  living  reality.  But  the 
fanciful  and  brilliant  Frenchman  must  state  his  own  case. 

"  Death,"  he  says,  "is  so  absurd  a  thing  when  il:  smites 
the  man  of  genius,  or  the  man  of  large  heart,  that  people 
will  not  believe  in  the  possibility  of  such  an  error  on  the 
part  of  nature.  The  little  Christian  society  of  that  day 
worked  a  veritable  miracle:  they  resuscitated  Jesus  in  their 


SUPERNATURAL  EVIDENCE.  II3 

hearts  by  the  intense  love  which  they  bore  towards  Him. 
The  love  of  the  passionate,  fond  souls  is  truly  stronger  than 
death,  and  as  the  characteristic  of  a  passionate  love  is  to 
be  communicated,  to  light  up  like  a  torch  a  sentiment 
which  resembles  it,  and  is  straightway  indefinitely  prop- 
agated, so  Jesus  in  one  sense,  at  the  time  of  which  we  are 
speaking,  is  already  resuscitated." 

M.  Renan  regards  the  narratives  of  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ  as  the  easy  self-deceptions  of  passionate 
children.  Now  what  say  the  very  histories  to  which  he  is 
himself  indebted  for  the  facts  of  the  resurrection  ?  Does 
the  account  these  affectionate  children  give  of  themselves 
agree  with  tlie  tlieories  of  the  fanciful  Frenchman?  Did 
their  hearts  make  them  credulous.'*  Was  their  love  so 
strong  that  it  created  a  pliantom  of  the  imagination.?  They 
themselves  state  that  they  were  often  insensible  to  the  most 
powerful  proofs  of  the  resurrection.  When  they  ap- 
proached the  sepulchre  they  bore  in  their  hands  the 
evidences  of  their  want  of  faith.  Their  spices  were  to 
embalm  a  corpse,  and  show  that  they  expected  to  find  a 
dead  friend,  not  a  living  Lord.  When  after  His  resurrec- 
tion Jesus  stood  in  their  midst  they  supposed  Him  to  be 
a  ghost.  He  had  to  banish  their  doubts  by  appealing  to 
His  flesh  and  eating  in  their  presence.  Thomas  for  all 
time  is  a  typical  skeptic.  After  repeated  appearances, 
even  on  the  Mountain  of  Ascension,  "  some  doubted." 
Always  the  disciples  charged  themselves  with  a  stupid 
incredulity. 

Let  us  apply  to  ourselves  tlie  fancies  of  M.  Renan.  We 
behold  a  friend  expire;  we  follow  him  to  his  grave;  we 
witness  his  burial.  Could  our  affection  make  us  believe 
we  saw  him  alive?  Or  could  it  persuade  us  that  we 
heard  him,  touclied  him,  beheld  him  rise  into  heaven  ? 
Suppose  that,  deluded  by  a  passionate  love,  you  affirmed 


114  ^  UPERNA  T  URA  L  E  VIDENCE. 

such  things  when  in  fact  your  friend  was  in  the  grave  ! 
You  would  be  deemed  a  lunatic  and  sent  to  an  asylum. 
To  summon  phantoms  from  tombs  through  our  affec- 
tions; to  impose  on  our  memories  words  never  spoken; 
to  follow  the  delusion  for  years;  to  sacrifice  life  for  the 
deception  would  be  impossible  to  sanity.  No  intense 
love,  nor  enthusiastic  fancy  could  persuade  us  that  our 
buried  dead  are  visibly,  tangibly  and  audibly  present 
about  our  tables  and  around  our  firesides. 

Passing  from  particular  objections  we  remark  that  the 
Scriptures  prejjare  us  to  receive  their  supernatural  attes- 
tation by  connecting  it  everywhere  with  the  most  perfect 
Moral  System  ever  known  in  our  world.  The  two  are  in- 
separable. You  must  take  them  together.  Nothing  can 
be  weaker  than  our  modern  effort  to  retain  the  moral  sys- 
tem and  repudiate  the  supernatural  system  as  antiquated 
superstition.  Turn  to  the  first  verse  of  the  Bible!  It 
ascribes  an  elemental  universe  to  the  creation  of  God. 
Then  follow  cycles  crowded  with  works  produced  by  an 
Almighty  Architect.  A  world  is  deluged  and  a  race 
saved  by  a  divine  interposition.  Patriarchal  promises 
and  covenants  are  made  by  the  voice  of  God.  Jehovah 
scourges  Egypt,  divides  the  sea,  moves  in  cloud  and  fire, 
dwells  visibly  in  tabernacle  and  temple.  From  Him 
through  centuries  prophets  profess  to  receive  their  direc- 
tions, predict  futurity  and  delineate  a  Messiah,  whose 
birth,  life  and  death  are  surrounded  by  the  miraculous, 
and  who  is  described  as  coming  from  a  tomb  to  ascend 
the  throne  of  a  universe.  Do  tlie  Scriptures  open  with 
the  supernatural  ?  They  close  with  the  resurrection 
of  a  rare  to  judgment  and  the  confiagration  of  our 
world.  Through  all  God  is  a  prime  actor.  The 
Bible  is  a  history  of  Jehovah  in  His  manifestations  to 
man.     Especially  is  it  a  record  of  Redemption.     Its  moral 


SUPERNA  TURAL  E  VIDENCE.  1 1 5 

system  occupies  a  small  space,  and  is  always  imbedded 
in  the  supernatural.  Can  you  remove  from  the  rock  its 
composing  shells?  Can  you  take  its  fibres  from  a  tree  ? 
Can  you  separate  from  a  body  the  minute  cells  that 
build  up  its  life?  Impossible!  Of  the  Bible  the  super- 
natural is  the  substance.  Yet  amid  its  miracles  and  its 
prophecies  is  a  matchless  rule  of  virtue.  Surely  the 
excellence  of  the  moral  system  is  a  presumption  in  favor 
of  the  supernatural  system.  He  who  enjoined  immacu- 
late holiness  could  not  devise  detestable  imposture. 

Between  miracles  and  morals,  by  a  few  particular  illus- 
trations, let  me  show  you  how  intimate  the  connection. 

Does  the  Decalogue  enjoin  a  pure  worship  of  God  and 
the  strictest  observance  of  our  duties  towards  man?  It 
was  preceded,  accompanied  and  followed  by  the  most 
awful  manifestations  of  the  divine  majesty  suited  to 
impress  tlie  senses  of  a  rude  people,  and  dispose  them  to 
a  reverential  obedience.  More!  The  supernatural  dis- 
plays authenticating  the  Law  are  parts  of  a  continuous 
history  beginning  with  the  creation,  and  embracing  in 
prophecy  the  everlasting  future  of  man. 

In  the  Gospels  still  more  impressive  is  this  union  of 
morals  and  miracles.  Narrations  of  supernatural  events 
occupy  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  Evangelical  His- 
tories. Nearly  every  precept  of  our  Saviour  stands 
related  to  a  miracle.  Does  He  preach  on  a  mountain? 
Immediately  before  He  heals  the  sick,  and  immediately 
after  He  cleanses  a  leper.  Does  He  recommend  benevo- 
lence as  more  acceptable  than  sabbatic  sanctity?  It  is 
by  curing  a  withered  hand,  and  making  straight  a 
deformed  body.  Docs  He  sum  all  duty  in  the  love  of 
God  and  man?  Just  before  in  the  narrative  is  an  illus- 
tration of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  Would  He  show 
forever  the  touching  beauty  of  human  sympathy?     He 


I  1 6  SUPERNA  TURA L  E  VIDENCE. 

drops  a  brother's  tear  before  the  grave  from  which  He 
commands  a  brother's  life.  Would  He  exhibit  a  lesson  of 
charity?  By  miraculous  bread  He  feeds  a  hungry  multi- 
tude. Would  He  enjoin  filial  affection  and  the  forgiveness 
of  enemies?  It  is  on  a  cross  where  He  dies  for  others  above 
a  world  which  He  shakes,  and  beneath  a  sky  which  He 
darkens.  He  leaves  His  disciples  a  last  proof  of  love  by 
lifting  over  them  hands  of  blessing  in  a  passage  from 
earth  to  heaven. 

St,  Paul,  who  wrote  the  immortal  description  of  charity, 
relates  also  that  he  heard  a  divine  voice,  saw  a  divine 
light,  and  was  converted  by  a  divine  power. 

Behold  the  grand  characteristic  of  the  Bible!  Every 
miracle  is  a  teacher  of  truth  and  a  promoter  of  virtue. 
The  apochryphal,  the  medieval,  the  modern  prodigies  are 
isolated  and  disjointed,  as  also  puerile  and  contemptible. 
Too  often  they  bear  tlie  marks  of  avaricious  or  ambitious 
imposture.  But  the  Scriptural  miracles  are  evolutions  of 
a  venerable  system  extending  through  centuries,  each 
performing  its  part  in  authenticating  revelation,  each  hav- 
ing its  place  and  mission,  and  all,  like  stones  in  an  edifice, 
portions  of  one  majestic  temj)le  of  truth.  Works  of 
superstition  pass  away  after  filling  the  pockets  of  villains 
and  exciting  the  stare  of  the  multitude.  Never  do  they 
become  incorporated  with  the  moral  and  intellectual 
development  of  humanity.  How  different  the  miracles 
of  the  Scriptures!  Chiefly  they  were  designed  to  attest 
Revelation.  Yet  that  done  they  never  die.  They  live 
to  enforce  the  moral  system  and  to  guide  the  spiritual 
experiences  of  Christianity.  They  teach  at  the  fireside 
and  glow  in  the  pulpit.  They  become  the  holy  emblems 
of  the  Church,  musical  in  her  songs,  and  beautiful  in  her 
art.  Yes!  the  miracles  of  the  Bible  are  both  inspirations 
to  genius  and  symbols  of  Salvation. 


SUPERNATURAL  EVIDENCE.  WJ 

In  conclusion,  permit  me  to  mention  a  characteristic 
of  Scriptural  Supernatural  Evidence  too  long  overlooked. 

With  all  their  genius  the  Greeks  made  slight  progress 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  universe.  Aristotle  sometimes 
approached  the  modern  inductive  methods,  but  the  world 
for  ages  was  beguiled  from  them  by  the  brilliant  imagi- 
nation of  Plato.  In  his  Phoedon  he  taught  that  truth 
must  be  reached  by  suppressing  the  senses  and  looking 
into  the  soul  for  her  pure  image.  This  turned  man  into 
a  philosophical  abstraction.  His  physical  nature  was 
depreciated  to  exalt  his  intellectual.  Mere  spiritualized 
fancies  were  substituted  for  the  study  of  laws  in  facts. 

Modern  science  secures  her  triumphs  by  regarding 
man  in  his  whole  constitution.  Instead  of  despising,  she 
employs  the  senses.  To  secure  her  eminence  she  climbs 
the  steep  and  narrow  paths  of  observation  and  generali- 
zation. On  facts  she  bases  her  structure  of  eternal  truth. 
Her  astronomical  calculations  she  verifies  by  the  tele- 
scope. By  the  spectroscope  she  proves  to  the  eye  the 
unity  of  the  universe.  Surrounded  by  retort  and  battery 
the  chemist  does  not  disdain  touch,  or  taste,  or  even 
smell.  Geology,  botany,  mineralogy,  and  a  whole  sister- 
hood of  studies,  base  themselves  solely  on  observation. 
Modern  science  bears  into  the  midnight  of  nature  the 
lamp  of  the  senses  that  by  them  Reason  may  be  guided  to 
the  truth. 

To  these  inductive  methods  how  similar  the  system  of 
Supernatural  Evidence  in  the  Scriptures!  First  consider 
prophecy.  This  does  not  employ  abstract  processes, 
metaphysical  deductions,  or  philosophical  speculations. 
It  makes,  like  science,  its  appeal  to  sense.  In  Isaiah,  in 
Jeremiah,  in  Ezekiel,  study  the  pictures  of  Babylon, 
Ninevah,  Tyre,  Petra,  and  Jerusalem!  Survey  now  the 
ruins    of   those  ancient  cities  as  visible  to    the  modern 


1 1 8  SUPERNA  TURA L  E  VIDENCE. 

explorer!  How  the  sketch  of  the  prophet  corresponds  to 
the  account  of  the  traveller!  The  eye  reads  the  predic- 
tion on  the  page  of  Revelation,  and  the  eye  reads  the 
fulfilment  on  the  page  of  Providence. 

More  striking  still  the  comparison  between  the  graphic 
prophetic  delineations  of  the  Messiah  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  the  vivid  histories  of  the  Messiah  in  the  New 
Testament.  Resembling  the  scheme  of  science,  the 
scheme  of  prophecy,  from  creation  to  judgment,  embrac- 
ing individuals,  cities,  kingdoms,  empires,  races — so  vast, 
so  minute,  so  protracted — is  an  appeal  to  the  eye. 

Applied  to  miracles  the  illustration  is  even  more  com- 
plete. 

Would  the  Creator  evince  to  a  rude  people  his  Person- 
ality? He  breaks  the  uniformity  of  nature  which  lulls  the 
soul  into  pantheistic  stupor  by  violently  interfering  with 
that  mechanism  of  the  universe  whose  perfection  of 
operation  silently  removes  God  from  the  faith  of  man. 
Behold  Him  come  forth  from  His  repose  in  His  majesty 
to  convince  the  multitude  of  His  existence  and  impress 
the  obligation  of  His  laws,  not  by  arguments  addressed 
to  reason,  but  by  displays  overawing  through  the  senses! 
His  attributes  are  no  longer  capacities  slumbering  in  His 
Godhead.  They  become  living  and  perceptible  facts, 
incorporated  with  the  world's  history  by  a  power  and 
wisdom  manifestly  infinite.  Is  an  ideal  of  virtue  to  be 
displayed?  It  is  not  by  the  song  of  the  poet,  the  picture 
of  the  orator,  or  the  speculation  of  the  philosopher,  but 
by  the  example  of  a  man  mortal,  yet  divine.  Is  wisdom 
to  be  taught?  In  Jesus  Christ  she  is  not  a  system  but  a 
life.  Is  immortality  to  be  revealed?  It  is  witnessed  by 
the  eye  in  the  resurrection  and  ascension  of  a  triumphant 
Saviour,  and  is  no  longer  an  argument,  but  an  incarna- 
tion, and  not  an  expectation,  but  a  fact. 


SUPERNA  TURA  L  E  VIDENCE.  1 1 9 

By  addressing  the  senses  Scripture  is  in  sympathy  with 
science.  Ancient  philosophy  scorned  this  physical  part 
of  man's  nature.  Hence  she  gave  no  progress  to 
humanity.  Everything  petrified  under  her  touch,  until 
Bacon,  following  the  dim  hints  of  Aristotle,  showed  that 
our  knowledge  of  the  universe  must  be  based  on  observa- 
tion and  experiment.  Science  at  once  becomes  a  new 
power.  Through  the  organs  of  the  body  she  marries  the 
soul  to  the  universe,  and  lo!  a  birth  of  universal  blessing. 

But  while  science  through  the  ages  was  groping  towards 
these  achievements,  Religion  laid  the  foundation  of  her 
system  in  supernatural  testimonies.  To  eye  and  ear  her 
miracles  and  her  prophecies  had  long  been  her  evidences. 
What  we  laud  in  science  shall  we  deride  in  Christianity? 
Ultimately  both  rest  on  the  senses.  How  strong  the 
presumption  that  both  are  parts  of  the  same  scheme  and 
derived  from  the  same  original ! 


I20  PRESUMPTIONS. 


LECTURE  IX. 

PRESUMPTIONS  FAVORABLE  TO  JESUS  CHRIST. 

IN  His  humanity  Jesus  Christ  was  an  unlettered  Jew. 
Described  as  having  royal  blood  in  His  veins,  He  was 
yet  the  reputed  son  of  a  poor  mechanic.  He  passed  His 
early  life  in  a  small  village.  While  rabbis  were  not  His 
instructors,  publicans,  fishermen  and  artisans  must  have 
been  His  companions.  Indeed,  for  these  very  reasons 
His  claim  as  a  teacher  was  repudiated  by  the  learned 
and  exclusive  doctors  of  Israel.  About  the  temple  the 
priests  rejected  Him  with  insults.  Under  such  circum- 
stances we  might  expect  something  in  the  thought  and 
style  of  our  Saviour  indicating  His  origin  and  associations. 
In  a  similar  situation  no  other  man  ever  escaped  the 
taint  of  a  village  ignorance,  and  vulgarity.  You  look  for 
this  in  vain  in  the  actions  and  discourses  of  Jesus  Christ. 
No  instance  can  be  produced  of  slang  or  provincialism, 
of  national  prejudice,  of  social  jealousy,  or  offensive 
assumption.  Through  His  words  and  deeds  breathes  an 
exquisite  delicacy.  Had  this  son  of  the  people  been 
born  and  educated  in  a  palace  like  that  of  His  ancestors 
David  and  Solomon,  surrounded  by  princes  and  habitu- 
ated to  the  elegances  of  a  court.  He  could  not  have 
manifested  a  more  royal  and  refined  courtesy.  In  His 
parables.  His  sermons.  His  ordinary  conversations  what 
simplicity,  what  propriety,  what  aptness,  what  dignity, 
what  majesty!  Art  is  exceeded.  The  ideal  of  culture  is 
realized  and  surpassed.      Especially  in  the  Sermon  on 


PRESUMPTIONS.  121 

the  Mount,  in  the  parables  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  the  Good 
Samaritan,  the  Wise  and  Foolish  Virgins,  Dives  and 
Lazarus,  the  Great  Supper  and  the  Ten  Talents,  do  we 
discover  a  most  exquisite  beauty  of  conception  and  expres- 
sion. In  these  nothing  of  the  village  mechanic!  Like 
the  sun  in  a  translucent  drop,  shines  through  them  a 
visible  glory  unmarred  by  mortal  blot.  Never  has  been 
approached  the  touching  and  affectionate  solemnity  of 
the  discourses  before  the  crucifixion,  the  exclamations 
amid  its  agonies,  the  utterances  after  the  resurrection, 
the  majesty  of  command  and  promise  previous  to  the 
ascension,  or  the  sublimities  of  the  descriptions  of  the 
Judgment  with  its  awards  of  Life  and  Death  everlasting. 
Here  is  nothing  to  mark  the  vulgar  pretender  and  every- 
thing worthy  the  world's  Messiah. 

We  must  remember  also  that  Jesus  Christ  was  character- 
istically a  Jew.  He  was  a  descendant  of  Abraham,  Isaac 
and  Jacob,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  of  the  family  of  the  royal 
David.  What  could  we  expect  from  Him  but  the  bigoted 
exclusiveness  of  His  nation  ?  Moreover,  in  the  forming 
period  of  His  youth  rabbinism  was  peculiarly  dominant  and 
restrictive.  A  system  of  caste  prevailed  almost  as  narrow 
and  remorseless  as  that  of  India.  The  Jewish  doctor 
despised  the  people,  and  regarded  with  haughty  and  pat- 
ronizing rigidity  those  inferior  to  him  in  rank.  To  Sad- 
ducees,  to  Pharisees,  to  Priests  and  Rabbis  and  People, 
the  Gentiles  were  loathsome  outcast  wretches,  having  no 
part  in  the  covenant  of  Jehovah,  and  doomed  to  ever- 
lasting exile  from  Heaven.  Barriers  deep  as  Hell  sepa- 
rated all  other  nations  from  Israel.  How  then  could  a 
Jew  of  humble  birth  and  imperfect  education,  rise  above 
the  prejudices  of  his  race,  the  instructions  of  his  teachers, 
the  creed  of  his  parents,  the  influences  of  his  life,  cut 
through  the  iron  net-work  of  caste,  hurl  down  the  walls 


122  PRESUMPTIONS. 

of  sect,  rise  superior  to  himself,  and  his  nation,  and  soar 
above  all  obstacles  to  the  summit  of  an  unsurpassable 
philanthropy,  and  into  an  atmosphere  of  universal  and 
eternal  light,  and  establish  a  religion  adapted  to  all  times, 
to  all  places,  to  all  peoples,  whose  fundamental  doctrine 
of  supreme  love  to  God  and  equal  love  to  our  neighbor 
constitutes  a  moral  system,  suitable  to  men  on  earth,  to 
angels  in  heaven,  and  all  beings  who  can  ever  owe  alle- 
giance to  the  throne  of  the  Creator  ?  Such  a  truth  may 
fitly  shine  as  a  halo  around  the  brow  of  the  Messiah  of 
our  humanity.  It  predisposes  us  to  a  belief  in  His  claim 
as  a  Redeemer, 

And  while  our  Saviour  with  aims  the  most  revolution- 
ary was  sweeping  Judaism  away,  yet  with  a  delicate  con- 
servatism He  was  perpetuating  whatever  was  universal  in 
its  application  and  everlasting  in  its  importance.  How 
minutely  realized  in  Him  the  national  expectations  !  The 
ceremonial,  the  political,  the  moral  elements  of  the  old 
were  not  forgotten  in  the  new.  Heaven  and  Earth  may 
pass  away — Law  and  Prophet  shall  be  fulfilled  in  Jesus 
Christ.  Is  this  the  spirit  of  imposture?  Is  this  the 
temper  of  fanaticism  ?  Could  a  mere  ambitious  human 
ignorance  have  contrived  the  minute,  the  varied,  the  in- 
numerable correspondences  between  the  types  and  prom- 
ises and  predictions  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  birth, 
character,  actions,  death,  and  asserted  resurrection  and 
ascension  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  Or  if  the  loftiest  mortal 
genius  could  have  conceived  so  many  exquisite,  subtle 
and  beautiful  harmonies,  what  possible  earthly  wisdom 
could  have  realized  them  in  an  actual  life?  Here  again 
in  our  Saviour  are  all  the  marks  of  truth. 

Wonderfully  mingled  in  Him  the  antagonistic  elements 
of  the  revolutionary  and  the  conservative.  Judaism  was 
not  so  much  abolished  as  perfected  by  its  expansion  into 


PRE  SUMP  TIONS.  T  2  3 

Christianity.  In  seeming  destruction  types  are  fulfilled, 
promises  are  fulfilled,  prophecies  are  fulfilled.  The 
carnal  becomes  the  spiritual;  the  particular  the  universal; 
the  temporary  the  eternal.  All  the  germs  of  Christi- 
anity were  reposing  in  Judaism  until  in  some  plenitude  of 
wisdom  they  flowered  forth  into  an  everlasting  beauty 
and  glory.  Now  this  prudence,  this  delicacy,  this  com- 
mingling of  opposites,  this  dignified  reserve  united  with 
daring  courage,  are  grand  characteristics  of  Jesus  Christ 
which  make  Him  a  model  of  wisdom  for  the  world.  In 
Him  we  find  them  as  they  should  be  in  a  Divine  IMessiah. 
But  history  enables  us  to  see  how  different  would  have 
been  the  course  of  a  vulgar,  selfish,  ambitious  deceiver. 
The  dream  of  the  Jew  was  a  Deliverer  who  could  break 
the  Roman  chain,  and  establish  in  Jerusalem  the  throne 
of  David  to  rule  the  world.  Only  such  a  Messiah  could 
he  see  in  the  splendid  visions  of  his  prophets.  His  soul 
glowed  with  the  hope  of  a  universal  dominion  created  by 
the  sword  of  this  predicted  conqueror.  Yet,  while  daz- 
zled with  these  dreams,  a  midnight  of  tyranny  was  over 
the  country  of  the  Jew.  He  was  under  the  iron  hand  of 
the  Gentile.  Roman  soldiers  held  his  capital  and  dese- 
crated his  temple.  Shall  the  sons  of  Abraham  bow  to 
infidel  oppressors?  Shall  David  pay  tribute  to  Caesar? 
Shall  the  children  of  Satan  grind  those  elected  through  the 
covenant  of  Jehovah?  By  an  army  to  drive  the  Roman 
from  the  city  of  David  and  the  temple  of  God  was  the 
burning  wish  of  the  Jew.  His  passionate  prayer  was  for 
a  Messiah  who  would  break  his  fetter,  and  bring  a  world 
to  his  feet.  Only  through  the  blood  of  battle  did  he 
expect  to  realize  this  brilliant  dream  of  earthly  dominion. 
Hence  the  Jewish  impostor  always  sought  the  popular 
support  by  personating  such  a  conquering  Messiah. 
Now  we  know  that   Jesus  Christ    created  a  boundless 


1 24  PRE  SUMP  TIONS. 

enthusiasm  among  the  people.  They  followed  Him  in 
crowds  with  hosannas.  Gladly  they  would  have  made 
Him  King.  Had  He  accepted  an  earthly  crown,  priests, 
scribes  and  Pharisees  had  been  His  followers.  They 
were  waiting  and  watching  for  such  a  deliverance  as 
seemed  signified  by  His  words  and  works.  People,  syna- 
gogue, sanhedrim,  and  temple  might  have  been  at  His 
disposal.  Such  a  temptation  would  be  irresistible  to 
imposture.  Why  did  Jesus  Christ  refuse  to  realize  a 
nation's  dream.?  Why  was  He  deaf  to  a  nation's  call? 
Why  was  He  not  dazzled  by  a  nation's  crown.?  He  pre- 
ferred insults  to  acclamations.  He  chose  thorns  for  His 
diadem.  He  mounted  a  cross  instead  of  a  throne. 
With  Him  a  kingdom  of  this  world  was  nothing  com- 
pared with  an  everlasting  regency  in  Heaven.  No 
deceiver  ever  thus  set  aside  the  tangible  rewards  of  time 
for  the  invisible  glories  of  eternity. 

Remark  also  the  instrumentalities  chosen  to  establish 
and  extend  the  new  religion!  They  corresponded  to  the 
exalted  spirituality  of  the  system.  We  have  seen  that 
Christ  could  have  allied  Himself  to  priest  and  scribe  for 
the  emancipation  of  the  nation.  Then,  representing  tem- 
ple and  synagogue,  learned  and  powerful  rabbis  would 
have  been  his  Apostles.  A  selfish  and  aspiring  teacher, 
with  vast  talents  and  influence,  would  have  secured 
such  associates.  To  a  calculating  human  wisdom  what 
more  absurd  than  to  seek  the  instructors  of  Israel  in  the 
ranks  of  the  obscure,  and  the  unlettered!  Can  ignorance 
teach  learning?  Shall  a  rustic  villager  indoctrinate  a 
capital  dignified  by  sanhedrim  and  temple?  In  this  new 
dispensation  are  fishermen  and  publicans  to  take  their 
place  in  that  venerable  succession  which  includes  Moses, 
and  David,  and  Solomon,  and  Isaiah,  and  Daniel!  Johns, 
Peters,  and  Matthews  to  crown  a  work  graced  by  princes. 


PRESUMPTIONS.  1 2$ 

poets  and  law-givers  of  Israel!  The  glory  of  a  grand 
prophetic  past  to  terminate  in  ignoble  and  unlearned 
men!  Nothing  brought  on  Jesus  Christ  more  ridicule 
and  opposition  than  such  a  choice  of  His  assistants.  To 
overthrow  idolatry,  supersede  Judaism,  supplant  philos- 
ophy, revolutionize  a  world,  and  make  a  religion  universal 
with  such  instruments  seemed  absurd.  Yet  the  wisdom 
of  the  Nazarene  is  justified  by  His  success.  Fishermen 
and  publicans  have  surpassed  prophets  and  kings.  By 
lowly  men  Christianity  was  introduced  and  established. 
History  never  witnessed  such  a  triumph.  The  most 
brilliant  Gentile  genius  possessed  not  the  power  of  these 
humble  Jewish  disciples.  Unlettered  apostles  have  be- 
come the  teachers  of  our  world.  The  impress  of  their 
writings  is  unrivalled  in  depth,  usefulness  and  extent.  Not 
only  have  they  regenerated  nations,  but  created  litera- 
tures and  philosophies,  stimulated  art  and  science,  and 
collected  around  themselves  the  erudition  of  the  ages. 
Mere  worldly  policy  would  never  have  selected  the 
Apostles,  and  yet  the  choice  of  their  Master  is  vindicated 
as  worthy  of  the  Messiahship. 

Nor  should  we  overlook  the  form  of  the  Evangelical 
Histories.  Had  they  been  developed  in  the  order  of  theo- 
logical treatises,  like  such  discourses  they  would  have  been 
doon'ed  to  the  shelf,  and  never  could  have  obtained  a 
circulation  among  the  people.  How  the  Drama  and  the 
Romance  seek  popular  favor  in  the  variety  and  vivacity 
of  Dialogue!  Yet  this  is  a  preference  having  in  view 
mere  artistic  effect.  In  the  Gospels  are  no  imaginary 
scenes  and  personages  moving  in  paint  and  robe  and 
mimicry  beneath  a  theatrical  glare.  Nor  do  we  perceive 
a  trace  of  those  literary  arts  which  would  excite  attention 
by  fascinations  of  plot,  style  and  character.  In  the  Evan- 
gelical  History  we  have  life  itself.     Speakers  and  actors 


1 26  PRE  SUMP  TIONS. 

are  real  men.  Theology  is  vivified  in  biography.  The 
wisdom  which  is  to  guide  the  ages  springs  forth  from 
the  most  casual  circumstances  and  the  most  trivial 
incidents.  A  despised  Samaritan  woman,  a  detected 
adulteress,  a  reclaimed  Magdalen,  a  poor  widow,  a 
trembling  paralytic,  even  a  crucified  thief  furnish  words 
and  deeds  which  are  to  instruct  man  forever.  Thus  the 
smallest  events  of  time  become  types  and  teachers  for 
eternity.  Yet  all  so  natural  and  spontaneous  that  we  fail 
to  perceive  the  plan  of  an  everlasting  wisdom.  Nothing 
resembles  this  in  any  literature.  Art  is  so  transcended 
as  to  be  forgotten  in  the  beautiful  and  unaffected  simplic- 
ity of  the  Gospels.  Without  effort  that  dialogue  which 
is  the  dream  of  Drama,  Romance  and  Philosophy  assumes 
a  living  power  at  once  irresistible  and  inimitable.  Should 
the  Messiah  appear  He  could  have  no  record  superior  to 
the  Evangelical  Histories. 

We  are  struck  also  by  the  completeness  in  the  life  of 
Jesus  Christ.  His  biography  stands  alone.  In  the 
career  of  every  other  man  you  can  discover  mistakes. 
Something  is  defective,  or  unfortunate,  or  to  be  regretted. 
You  can  suggest  corrections.  You  are  not  satisfied.  You 
would  have  it  otherwise.  In  all  other  human  brightness 
however  dazzling  there  is  yet  a  spot.  How  different  with 
Jesus  Christ!  Here  is  perfection!  With  exquisite  sym- 
pathy for  our  mortality  the  life  of  the  Saviour  is  com- 
])lete  in  its  details,  its  development,  its  totality.  Nothing 
can  be  added  and  nothing  can  be  subtracted.  A  picture 
of  Raphael,  a  statue  of  Angelo,  the  career  of  Paul,  the 
character  of  Washington  you  may  conceive  improved. 
No  human  ideal  beyond  another  touch.  Who  would 
change  the  life  of  Jesus?  From  manger  to  cross  He  is 
unalterable  and  inimitable.  He  stands  by  Himself  in  his 
pure  and  simple  glory.     He  unites  in  career  and  charac- 


PRESUMPTIONS  12/ 

ter  all  we  could  expect  in  man's  Messiah.  Jesus  Christ 
lived  for  others.  Self  was  lost  in  benevolence.  About 
Him  was  an  atmosphere  of  holiness.  Over  Him  was  a  halo 
of  love.  Forgiveness  breathes  for  His  enemies  who  mock 
Him  with  the  taunt  and  pierce  Him  with  the  spear.  What 
dignity  in  His  resurrection!  What  majesty  in  His  ascen- 
sion! If  clouds  received  His  person  they  did  not  obscure 
His  example.  His  influence  has  come  down  through  the 
ages.  In  proportion  as  men  are  good  they  are  drawn  to 
Him.  It  is  in  pious  hearts  He  lives.  He  is  the  spring 
of  the  holiest  affections.  He  is  the  object  of  the  sub- 
limest  hopes.  He  is  the  ideal  of  the  moral  perfection  of 
our  manhood.  Always  is  His  image  crowned  as  with 
light  from  Heaven.  As  rays  converge  to  the  sun  all 
virtues  centre  in  our  Saviour.  Remove  from  our  world 
the  character  of  Jesus  Christ  and  you  abandon  it  to 
moral  gloom.  Let  His  religion  be  established  among  the 
nations,  and  you  realize  for  humanity  its  dream  of  uni- 
versal love,  light  and  joy!  In  His  system  and  in  His 
character  you  perceive  the  marks  of  a  Messiah  superior 
to  all  human  conception. 

One  characteristic  marks  false  religions.  They  sacri- 
fice the  moral  to  the  ceremonial.  Haughty,  vengeful, 
murderous,  Achilles  was  a  pious  hero  if  he  presented 
libations  and  offered  hecatombs.  Paris  could  have 
Helen  if  he  sacrificed  to  Venus.  A  temple  to  Jupiter 
would  condone  the  avarice  of  a  Pygmalion.  The  smoke 
of  the  altar,  the  beauty  of  the  shrine,  the  pomp  of  the 
procession,  the  costliness  of  the  gift  hid  the  lust  of  the 
heart  and  the  evil  of  the  life.  Even  now  men  sometimes 
forget  the  heinousness  of  the  sin  in  the  glitter  of  the  cere- 
mony. Often  the  garb  of  the  pliilosopher  has  concealed 
a  pride  as  offensive,  if  not  so  pernicious,  as  vice  or  crime. 
Only  one  system  begins  in  the  conscience.     The  old 


128  PRESUMPTIONS. 

prophets  considered  the  splendor  of  their  visions,  and  the 
magnificence  of  their  ritual  as  nothing  compared  with 
moral  rectitude.  Separated  from  a  pure  life  sacrifice  was 
an  abomination.  But  our  Saviour  penetrated  to  the 
intention  of  the  soul.  Repentance  was  His  first  trumpet- 
call  to  the  conscience.  He  demanded  absolute  sincerity 
and  the  renunciation  of  every  sin.  There  was  no  other 
path  to  the  cross  and  heaven.  By  his  works  every  man 
was  to  be  known,  and  rewarded  or  punished  everlastingly. 
Holiness  was  the  aim  of  Jesus  Christ.  Holiness  was  to 
flow  from  the  heart  and  purify  the  life.  Holiness  alone 
makes  suitable  for  heaven.  No  Messiahship  could  have 
a  loftier  aspiration  or  more  indubitable  signature  than  the 
creation  of  a  universal  kingdom  founded  on  everlasting 
holiness. 

All  the  considerations  urged  have  produced  in  men  a 
confidence  and  admiration  which,  of  themselves,  consti- 
tute a  presumption  in  favor  of  Jesus  Christ.  Especially 
when  we  remember  His  transcendent  claim  does  the 
argument  become  forcible  and  the  phenomenon  unex- 
ampled. 

The  veneration  inspired  by  our  Saviour  is  instinctive. 
Even  the  wicked  are  touched  by  the  beauty  of  His  words, 
the  glory  of  His  works,  and  the  sublimity  of  His  love. 
According  to  the  fashion  of  our  times  the  men  who  most 
deride  His  miracles  are  loudest  in  their  praises  of  His 
character.  Let  us  see  to  what  conclusion  we  are  con- 
ducted by  this  universal  admiration! 

Human  nature  resents  boastful  assertion.  Unless 
supported,  grand  claims  and  pompous  titles  excite  the 
sneer.  Pretentiousness  never  long  keeps  its  place  in  the 
veneration  of  the  world.  Time  discovers  imposture  and 
scatters  stolen  plumes.     Only  modest  merit  endures. 

But  while   Jesus  Christ  is  thus  loved   and  venerated  ; 


PRE  SUMP  TIONS.  1 29 

while  canvas  and  marble  represent  His  mild  majesty  ; 
while  poetry  celebrates  Him  in  song,  and  architecture 
erects  to  Him  temples,  no  man  ever  claimed  for  himself 
such  transcendent  powers,  such  implicit  obedience,  such 
overmastering  authority.  No  philosopher  of  ancient  or 
modern  times  dared  describe  himself  in  such  terms  as 
are  habitually  appropriated  by  Jesus  Christ.  Compared 
with  the  words  He  uttered  and  the  titles  He  assumed, 
even  oriental  royal  records  are  the  merest  modesty, 
unless  we  concede  to  the  Founder  of  Christianity  a 
right  to  His  matchless  prerogatives.  How  is  it  that 
while  the  pompous  vanity  of  the  monarch-conqueror 
excites  a  smile,  the  more  soaring  claim  of  the  lowly  Naz- 
arene  does  not  cloud  our  admiration .?  What  would 
hurl  any  other  mortal  from  his  pedestal  lifts  Jesus  Christ 
higher  in  our  esteem. 

How  true,  how  deep,  how  exalted,  how  matchless, 
how  divine  the  merit  which  prevents  such  claims  from 
being  resented  as  odious,  absurd,  and  contemptible! 
Without  foundation  they  would  be  ridiculed  from  the 
the  world.  Jesus,  indeed,  describes  Himself  as  the  vis- 
ible glory  of  Godhead.  He  places  Himself  on  the 
throne  of  the  universe.  Subject  to  Him  are  Hell  and 
Heaven.  And  although  born  in  a  manger,  nailed  to  a 
cross,  and  buried  in  a  grave,  humanity  gives  Him  the 
homage  of  its  instinctive  and  affectionate  reverence  as  if 
it  indeed  recognized  Him  as  the  monarch  of  creation. 
In  this  fact  I  find  a  strong  presumption  in  favor  of  His 
Divine  Messiahship. 

Permit  me  to  make  one  concluding  suggestion.  It 
would  seem  impossible  for  mere  human  genius  to  describe 
the  perfection  of  God  united  to  our  mortal  nature.  How 
far  shall  the  divine  element  prevail?  How  far  the  human? 
How  shall   the  two  be  harmoniously  combined?      What 


130  PRESUMPTIONS. 

peril  in  the  attempt!  Who  can  adequately  express  the 
infinite  love,  power,  wisdom,  holiness  and  majesty  of 
God  manifested  in  the  life  of  a  suffering  and  dying  man? 
In  such  a  picture  are  requisite  what  boldness,  what  deli- 
cacy, what  subtle  mastery  of  thought  and  style!  Almost 
certainly  must  the  result  be  absurd,  or  ludicrous,  or  mon- 
strous. Yet  in  Jesus  everything  comports  with  Jehovah. 
The  life  of  the  man  on  earth  is  not  unsuitable  to  the 
glory  of  God  in  Heaven.  As  rays  to  the  sun,  the  terres- 
trial in  Christ  points  naturally  to  the  celestial.  Harmo- 
nized in  time,  Human  and  Divine  will  harmonize  through 
eternity.  Between  the  two  is  neither  breach  nor  chasm. 
The  biographies  of  unlettered  Jews  are  fitting  introduc- 
tions to  the  Everlasting  Kingship  of  the  Incarnate  Creator 
of  the  Universe.  Of  what  other  man  of  earth's  millions 
could  you  affirm  that  his  career  and  character  were  not 
incongruous  with  a  dignity  so  transcendent?  Only  the 
sketches  of  Jesus  in  the  Gospels  can  be  considered  worthy 
parts  of  a  terrestrial  experience  and  development,  which, 
without  violence,  or  impropriety,  can  be  carried  upward 
and  onward  to  a  celestial  majesty  divine  and  everlasting. 


PJiOOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.  I31 


LECTURE  X. 

PROOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

SEPARATELY  and  independently  to  establish  each 
particular  miracle  of  the  Bible  would  be  a  work  vast 
and  impossible.  Nor  is  it  necessary.  Twilight  is  indeed 
welcome  before  the  appearance  of  the  sun.  But  the 
morning  vanishes  in  his  noon's  kingly  brilliance.  Proph- 
ecies and  miracles  were  only  heralds  of  a  splendor 
promised  in  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  need  not  dwell 
in  tlieir  twilight  of  proof  if  we  have  a  blaze  of  brighter 
evidence.  In  condescension  to  our  human  weakness  we 
have  one  grand  test  of  Christianity  including  everything 
before  it.  Prove  the  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
reason  is  satisfied.  Did  He  rise  from  the  dead.''  Then 
He  is  the  star  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  sun  of  the 
New.  The  Resurrection  is  the  keystone  to  the  arch  of 
both  dispensations.  Rather  it  is  the  crown  of  the  proof 
of  the  whole  Scripture.  To  it  all  the  other  testimonies 
converge,  and  in  it  are  included,  so  that,  even  logically, 
on  it  we  may  concentrate  our  arguments. 

And  its  proof  involves  only  facts.  Neither  theory  nor 
speculation  is  necessary.  Philosophers  and  scientists  are 
not  essential  to  our  inquiry.  Modern  law  refers  many 
questions  to  persons  trained  to  special  excellence  called 
experts.  These  cases  are  exceptional,  and  often  produce 
embarrassment  through  differences  of  opinions  arising 
from  professional  pride  and  interest.  Usually  in  our 
courts  the  truth  is  best   attained  by  means  of  witnesses 


132  PHOOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

drawn  from  the  ordinary  walks  of  life,  and  who  are 
recommended  by  shrewd  natural  sense  and  integrity  of 
character. 

Testimotiy  is  the  scriptural  proof  of  the  Resurrection. 
The  Bible  bases  Christianity  on  the  senses.  Our  Lord 
appealed  to  the  eye,  to  the  ear,  to  the  finger.  He 
claims  to  have  been  seen,  heard,  touched,  after  His  Resur- 
rection. To  prove  Himself  no  disembodied  spirit,  it  is 
narrated  that  He  ate  fish  and  honeycomb.  He  is  described 
as  saying  to  His  disciples,  "  Handle  Me  and  see,"  and  to 
Thomas,  "  Reach  hither  thy  finger,  and  behold  My  hands, 
and  reach  hither  thy  hand,  and  thrust  it  into  My  side." 
How  clear  and  emphatic  His  recorded  words!  "Thus  it 
behooved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the 
third  day,  and  ye  are  witnesses  of  these  things."  The 
grand  function  of  the  apostolic  office  was  this  testimony 
to  a  risen  Saviour.  When  choice  was  made  to  fill  the 
place  of  Judas  it  was  said,  "  Wherefore  of  these  men  who 
have  companied  with  us  all  the  time  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
went  in  and  out  among  us,  from  the  baptism  of  John, 
unto  the  same  day  that  He  was  taken  up  from  us,  must 
one  be  ordained  to  be  a  witness  of  His  Resurrection." 
This  was  St.  Peter's  view  of  his  mission  as  seen  in  his 
Pentecostal  sermon.  He  is  said  to  have  cried  to  the  Jews, 
■*  This  Jesus  hath  God  raised  up,  whereof  we  all  are 
witnesses."  And  in  preaching  to  the  Gentiles  when 
Cornelius  was  baptized,  the  great  apostle  was  yet  more 
explicit.  He  is  represented  as  affirming,  "  And  we  are 
witnesses  of  all  things  which  He  did,  both  in  the  land  of 
the  Jews  and  in  Jerusalem,  whom  they  slew  and  hanged 
on  a  tree.  Him  God  raised  up  the  third  day,  and  showed 
Him  openly,  not  to  all  the  people,  but  to  witnesses  chosen 
before  of  God." 

This  testimony  of  the  Scriptures  exists  in  a  form  which 


PROOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.  1 33 

lawyers  style  a  deposition.  Formerly  it  was  supposed 
that  all  the  advantage  to  truth  is  in  a  trial  by  jury,  where 
the  face  and  manner  of  the  living  witness  can  be  scruti- 
nized. Now,  however,  eminent  practitioners  prefer  to 
have  testimony  taken  and  recorded  in  a  private  office,  so 
that  the  judge  can  investigate  the  deposition  at  his  leisure, 
and  deliberately  apply  every  legal  test  to  the  veracity  of 
those  whose  evidence  he  examines.  In  such  a  case  he 
deems  the  record  sufficient  in  itself,  and  does  not  go 
beyond  it  for  the  truth. 

It  is  according  to  this  approved  modern  method  we  are 
to  try  the  Gospels  and  the  Acts,  those  five  Evangelical 
Histories  containing,  as  we  claim,  in  themselves  the 
proofs  of  our  Saviour's  Resurrection.  The  apostolic 
witnesses  cannot  be  before  us,  but  like  the  judge  in 
chambers,  we  have  substantially  their  depositions.  St. 
Matthew  and  St.  John  profess  to  describe  what  they  saw 
and  heard.  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  composed  their 
narratives  on  the  reports  of  others.  St.  Paul  asserts  that 
he  heard  the  voice  of  Jesus  Christ  and  saw  His  glory,  not 
only  after  the  resurrection  of  His  Master,  but  after  His 
ascension  into  Heaven.  He  affirms  that  his  Lord  said 
unto  him,  *'  I  am  Jesus  whom  thou  persecutest.  But  rise, 
and  stand  upon  thy  feet:  for  I  have  appointed  thee  for 
this  purpose  to  make  thee  a  minister  and  a  witness  both 
of  these  things  which  thou  hast  seen,  and  of  those  things 
in  the  which  I  will  appear  unto  thee." 

In  the  case  of  eye-witnesses,  like  St.  Matthew,  St. 
John  and  St.  Paul,  we  have  the  advantage  of  directness, 
but  in  biographers  like  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  who  gather 
materials  from  many  eye-witnesses,  we  secure  the  benefit 
of  numbers.  Few  histories  are  based  on  both  methods. 
Hence  the  Scriptures  combine  all  possible  excellences  in 
the  nature  of  their  record. 


134  PROOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

We  may  also  remark  that  we  have  already  ascertained 
the  authenticity  of  the  Evangelical  Histories  containing 
the  narratives  of  the  Resurrection  and  Ascension  of 
Jesus  Christ.  A  mind  unconvinced  by  the  evidence 
presented  would  be  satisfied  with  no  possible  testimony. 
Its  difficulties  are  beyond  the  power  of  argument. 

As  lawyers  say  in  their  pleadings,  we  have  now  nar- 
rowed the  issue.  It  does  not  extend  over  the  whole 
Scriptures.  It  does  not  embrace  questions  of  super- 
natural manifestation  during  thousands  of  years.  It  is 
confined  to  a  single  fact.  We  are  judicially  to  examine 
the  Evangelical  Histories,  and  by  the  rules  of  legal  evi- 
dence discover  whether  the  Apostolic  witnesses  are  to  be 
believed  when  they  assert  that  they  saw,  heard  and 
touched  Jesus  Christ  after  His  Resurrection,  and  then 
beheld  Him  ascend  into  Heaven.  On  their  testimony 
that  He  came  from  the  tomb  and  vanished  in  the  clouds 
on  His  passage  to  His  throne,  we  are  invited  to  a  faith 
declared  essential  to  our  salvation. 

The  Evangelical  Witnesses  are  credible, 

I.     ON    ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SIMPLICITY    OF    THEIR    NARRA- 
TIVES. 

In  our  age  a  style  has  arisen  called  sensational.  You 
will  find  its  most  characteristic  example  in  the  de- 
scriptions of  a  modern  reporter.  The  sale  of  his  nar- 
rative is  the  key  to  his  style.  His  invention  is  taxed, 
and  his  imagination  exhausted  to  make  his  report  dis- 
posable in  the  market,  and  hence  his  agony  of  effort  ex- 
pressed in  bombastic  exaggeration.  This  sensational 
style  is  always  most  suspected  in  a  tribunal  of  justice. 

Let  us  apply  this  principle  of  Legal  Evidence  to  the 
Evangelical  Histories!  Passing  out  of  the  gate  of  a  city 
our  Saviour  is  said  to  have  met  a  youth  on  a  bier  carried 
to  his  grave.     To  the  mother  Jesus  addresses  two  words. 


PROOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.  1 35 

"Weep  not,"  and  to  the  son,  in  the  original,  four,  trans- 
lated into  English:  "Young  man,  I  say  unto  thee  arise." 
It  is  briefly  added,  "  and  he  that  was  dead  sat  up,  and 
began  to  speak;  and  He  delivered  him  to  his  mother." 
Closing  the  narrative  is  a  short  record  of  the  effects  on 
the  spectators  and  the  country.  Not  a  comment,  not  an 
apology,  not  an  inference,  not  an  exclamation  ! 

In  a  tempest,  on  a  midnight  sea,  our  Saviour  is  repre- 
sented, with  the  simple  majesty  of  conscious  power,  as 
saying  to  the  winds  and  waves,  "  Peace  !  be  still  !  "  To 
command  His  friend  from  the  grave,  as  a  monarch  ex- 
pecting obedience,  but  in  the  fewest  words  possible.  He 
cries,  **  Lazarus,  come  forth  !"  In  every  part  of  the  Gos- 
pels you  perceive  this  concise  simplicity.  You  find  only 
transparent  purity  of  soul  and  aim  and  style,  without  a 
mark  of  the  impostor  who  would  sell  his  fraud  for  gold, 
or  excite  the  wonder  of  ignorance.  Most  marvellously 
is  this  true  in  regard  to  the  events  which  precede,  accom- 
pany and  follow  the  Resurrection.  Suppose  that  this 
instant  the  earth  should  shake,  the  sky  shroud  itself  in 
gloom,  and  the  graves  yield  forth  their  dead  !  On  the 
third  day  after  let  the  crucified  man  who  had  been  the 
central  figure  of  these  terrors  come  alone  from  his  tomb. 
Any  honest  witness  in  recording  such  facts  might  be  be- 
trayed into  a  momentary  exaggeration.  But  how  would 
a  sensationalist  fabricating  the  account  for  gain  or  fame 
break  forth  into  extravagance  of  thought  and  style  !  In 
the  Evangelical  Histories  three  Greek  words  describe  the 
shaking  earth;  three  the  rending  rocks;  three  the  open- 
ing graves,  and  thirteen  the  portentous  gloom  caused  by 
a  darkened  sun,  while  in  the  briefest  manner  is  recorded 
the  appearance  of  the  risen  dead. 

In  the  same  simple  language  the  Evangelical  Witnesses 
relate  the  circumstances  of  the  Resurrection.     Also  in  a 


136  PROOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

few  plain  words  St.  Luke,  in  the  Acts,  records  the  maj- 
esty of  the  Ascension. 

Is  this  the  manner  of  impostors  who  would  sell  a  lie  "i 
Consider  the  import  of  these  events !  How  exalted 
above  all  ordinary  history  !  In  the  duration  and  circuit 
of  the  universe  they  cannot  be  transcended.  Created 
intellect  can  conceive  nothing  more  sublime.  We  can- 
not understand  how  Godhead  could  do  more.  A  man 
is  nailed  to  the  cross.  Having  expired,  he  is  taken 
down,  enrobed,  embalmed,  interred.  He  bursts  from 
the  grave.  He  walks  on  the  earth.  He  rises  into 
Heaven.  By  these  acts  he  is  claimed  to  have  proved 
himself  the  Incarnate  God,  the  Author  of  the  creation, 
the  Messiah  of  the  Jew,  the  Redeemer  of  a  world,  the 
visible  King  of  the  Universe.  Yet  the  simple  style  of  the 
record  is  in  everlasting  contrast  to  the  labored  and  pom- 
pous words  by  which  knaves  would  on  the  credulous  im- 
pose tneir  magnificent  forgeries ! 

The  Evangelical  Witnesses  are  credible, 

II.    ON    ACCOUNT    OF    THE    HONESTY    WITH    WHICH    THEY 
NARRATE    THEIR    FAULTS. 

Deceivers,  all  and  always,  try  to  make  the  best  of 
themselves.  They  conceal  their  defects  and  magnify 
their  virtues,  and  are  betrayed  by  an  inevitable  cant. 
Lawyers  understand  this  principle  of  human  nature,  and 
constantly  turn  it  to  account  in  the  examinations  of  wit- 
nesses and  in  arguments  to  juries.  When  a  man  on  the 
stand  ingenuously  admits  his  errors  ;  when  he  brings 
himself  out  into  the  light  regardless  of  consequences  ; 
when  he  is  willing  to  sacrifice  his  interest  rather  than 
his  veracity  he  unconsciously  draws  to  himself  credit  in 
a  court  of  justice. 

Now  these  marks  of  truthfulness  are  visible  in  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  as  in  no  other  volumes  ever  written. 


PROOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.  1 3/ 

Noah,  the  builder  of  the  ark,  the  second  head  of  the 
human  family,  the  progenitor  of  the  Messiah,  is  repre-  ' 
sented  as  having  been  intoxicated.  No  veil  is  cast  over 
the  deceits  and  weaknesses  of  Abraham,  the  father  of 
the  Jewish  nation,  the  recipient  of  the  promises  and  the 
covenanted  friend, of  Jehovah.  What  a  picture  is  given 
of  the  lies  and  frauds  of  Jacob,  the  parent  of  the  tribal 
patriarchs,  and  who  saw  the  typical  ladder  of  glory 
rising  from  earth  into  heaven!  We  are  told  that  impa- 
tient anger  kept  from  Canaan  that  Moses  whose  rod 
plagued  Egypt  and  divided  the  Red  Sea,  who  was  guided 
by  cloud  and  fire  through  the  wilderness,  and  who  amid 
thunder  and  earthquake  is  said  to  have  received  the 
Law  from  Jehovah  Plainly  recorded  the  adultery  and 
murder  of  David  whose  inspired  Psalms  during  all  ages 
were  to  be  chanted  by  the  Universal  Church,  while  we 
have  described  the  idolatry  of  that  Solomon  whose 
prayers  brought  into  the  temple  the  glory  of  heaven,  and 
whose  wise  words  make  part  of  the  canon  of  the 
Scripture. 

And  thus  too  in  the  Evangelical  Histories  is  no  conceal- 
ment of  ugly  and  damaging  facts.  The  childishness,  the 
stupidities,  the  rivalries  of  the  Apostles  are  all  in  the  record, 
yet  without  the  cant  of  any  mock  humility.  We  have  nar- 
rated the  follies  and  the  sins  of  men  on  whose  testimony 
was  to  turn  the  everlasting  salvation  of  millions,  and 
whose  writings  were  to  illuminate  all  the  future  genera- 
tions of  mankind  in  the  way  of  holiness  to  Heaven. 
Surely  Peter  might  be  spared!  Peter  the  prince  of  the 
Apostles!  Peter  the  witness  of  the  transfiguration,  and 
the  companion  of  the  agony!  Peter  who  was  to  hold  for 
Jew  and  Gentile  the  keys  of  the  Kingdom,  and  whose 
sermon  at  Pentecost  was  to  be  followed  by  the  Baptism 
of  the    Holy   Ghost!     No!     Peter  is  painted  in  colors 


138  PROOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

blacker  than  those  of  his  associates.  All  proved  cowards. 
All  forsook  their  Master.  All  fled.  But  Peter's  loudest 
protestations  of  loyal  love  are  described  as  followed  by 
revolting  blasphemies. 

Nothing  so  stains  a  man  as  abandonment  of  a  friend 
in  peril!  Nothing  so  contemptible  as  cowardice  !  Noth- 
ing so  tests  the  inmost  nature  as  an  honest  confession  of 
sins  by  those  claiming  to  be  teachers  of  morals  and  guides 
of  holiness! 

Measured  by  these  standards,  who  ever  gave  such 
proofs  of  integrity  as  the  writers  of  the  Gospels  ?  Who 
ever  were  so  honest  against  themselves  ?  Who  ever  with 
such  simplicity  recorded  their  own  faults .''  In  their 
testimonies  meet  all  the  marks  of  absolute  truthfulness.. 
They  were  upright  men  whose  words  carry  with  them  a 
conviction  of  sincerity. 

Again,  the  Evangelical  Witnesses  are  credible, 

III.    ON    ACCOUNT    OF     THE    VARIETY    OF    THEIR     NARRA- 
TIVES   AINIID    UNIFORMITY. 

Let  five  rogues  together  contrive  a  story  to  impose  on 
a  Judge  I  Inevitably  tliey  will  betray  themselves.  Ex- 
cessive anxiety  not  to  contradict  each  other  will  produce 
suspicious  agreements  in  minute  circumstances.  The 
attempt  to  conceal  artifice  is  the  means  of  its  detection. 
Hence  dovetailed  testimonies  are  considered  by  lawyers 
as  suggestive  of  collusive  fraud  in  the  manufacture  of 
evidence.  But  where  there  is  harmony  in  the  essential 
with  seeming  discrepancy  in  the  subordinate  we  have 
strong  presumption  of  honesty. 

Now  this  is  just  what  we  find  in  all  parts  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Histories.  Especially  the  mark  of  truthfulness 
mentioned  distinguishes  the  records  of  the  Resurrection, 
In  these  everything  at  first  is  startlingly  confused.  Often 
there  is  an   imjjression  of  hopeless  contradiction.     But, 


PROOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.  1 39 

as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  when  we  obtain  the  clew  to  the 
different  narratives,  then  the  facts  recorded  fall  into  their 
natural  order,  one  sheds  light  on  the  other,  and  the  whole 
history  becomes  a  beautiful  and  convincing  harmony. 

It  is  thus  with  a  picture  composed  of  many  figures,  and 
for  which  we  have  no  explanation.  We  gaze  in  bewilder- 
ment on  the  painted  scene.  It  is  puzzling,  confusing, 
and  unintelligible.  Now  we  learn  the  design  of  the  pic- 
ture. Instantly  our  eye  fixes  on  the  central  figure,  and 
all  the  inferior  actors  assume  their  true  relations.  The 
conception  which  kindled  the  artist  flashes  into  ourselves, 
and  instead  of  bewildering  disappointment  succeeds  a 
glow  of  satisfaction  and  boundless  delight. 

The  Evangelical  Witnesses  are  credible, 

IV.    BECAUSE    THEY  PROVED  THEIR   SINCERITY    BY  SACRI- 
FICE. 

We  do  not  mean  that  martyrdom  for  a  doctrine  estab- 
lishes its  truth.  It  only  proves  the  honest  conviction  of 
the  sufferer.  A  man  may  burn  for  a  false  religion  as 
well  as  for  a  true.  By  the  agonies  of  his  death  he  proves 
that  he  believes  that  for  which  he  gives  his  life. 

Remember,  however,  that  the  Apostolic  Witnesses 
suffered  not  for  theories,  but  for  facts.  For  facts  did  I 
say  ?  More  correctly  they  died  for  a  fact.  As  the  lens 
gathers  the  scattered  rays  of  the  sun  to  a  point,  so  all 
scriptural  testimonies  converge  to  the  Resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Here  Science  and  Christianity  meet  on  a 
common  basis.  The  grand  crowning  proof  of  the  Bible, 
supreme  and  sufficient,  depends  on  those  very  senses  the 
Chemist  employs  when  in  his  retort  he  analyzes  a  salt,  or 
the  Geologist  when  he  examines  a  rock,  or  an  Astronomer 
when  he  observes  a  star.  Our  witnesses  died  testifying 
that  they  saw,  and  heard,  and  touched  their  Lord  after 
His  Resurrection.     To  the  visible,  the  audible,  the  tangi- 


I40  PROOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

ble  they  gave  evidence,  and  sealed  with  their  blood  what 
they  affirmed  before  Earth  and  Heaven,  Thus  their  sin- 
cerity is  unquestionable,  while  they  testify,  not  to  philo- 
sophical opinions,  nor  simply  to  religious  doctrines,  but 
above  all  to  the  fact  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  arose  from 
the  dead  and  ascended  into  glory. 

Let  us  examine  more  closely  the  circumstances  under 
which  the  apostolic  witnesses  suffered  martyrdom.  For 
illustration  we  will  select  the  example  of  St.  Paul,  espe- 
cially because  it  cannot  be  urged  that  he  was  dull, 
obscure,  and  ignorant.  His  social  position  was  lofty  and 
full  of  promise,  while  he  was  never  surpassed  in  the 
discipline  of  his  powers  and  the  splendor  of  his  genius. 
As  Jesus  was  at  once  the  reputed  son  of  a  carpenter  and 
the  true  descendant  of  monarchs,  thus  representing 
humanity,  so  if  the  uneducated  apostolic  witnesses  were 
in  sympathy  with  the  toiling  multitude,  St.  Paul  makes 
complete  the  Scriptural  testimony  because  his  birth, 
talents,  and  culture  give  him  rank  with  the  admired  few 
who  guide  and  adorn  our  world. 

Here  then  is  a  young  Jew  of  the  most  shining  gifts, 
the  brightest  promise,  the  highest  education,  a  bigoted 
Pharisee,  commissioned  by  the  Roman  empire,  who,  on  a 
journey  of  persecuting  rage,  near  the  city  of  his  victims, 
alleges  that,  in  the  midst  of  a  glory  out-dazzling  the  sun, 
he  heard  and  saw  the  risen  and  ascended  Jesus,  and  then 
after  a  life  of  toil,  peril,  and  sacrifice  seals  his  testimony 
with  his  blood. 

St.  Paul  was  an  impostor,  a  fanatic,  or  an  honest 
witness. 

The  first  supposition  is  confronted  with  insuperable 
difficulties.  Suppose  that  the  apostle  during  years  af- 
firmed that  he  had  seen  and  heard  Jesus,  when  in  all  he 
said  he  was  a  conscious  liar.     Inevitably  his  character 


PROOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.  14I 

would  have  been  corrupted  by  such  falsehoods.  He 
could  not  have  continued  the  wise,  patient,  brave,  pure, 
loving,  devoted  man  he  is  evinced  to  be  in  all  parts 
of  his  writings.  Besides,  he  could  have  had  no  selfish 
interest  in  the  change.  Imposture  never  turns  from 
wealth  to  poverty,  from  fame  to  shame,  from  courts 
to  prisons,  from  freedom  to  chains,  from  honors  to  mar- 
tyrdom. 

But  was  St.  Paul  a  fanatic?  Did  he  during  the  best 
years  of  a  long  life  testify  to  the  appearance  of  the  phan- 
tom of  a  deceived  sense,  a  weak  heart,  or  a  disordered 
brain,  and  after  deluding  others,  perish  himself,  still 
clinging  to  his  miserable  error?  This  supposition  is  con- 
tradicted by  all  that  we  know  of  his  character,  his  actions, 
and  the  beneficent  results  of  his  unexampled  career. 
Who  ever  had  more  admirable  balance  of  mind?  What 
practical  wisdom  in  his  words!  His  writings  give  the 
most  perfect  rules  for  the  conduct  of  our  lives.  With 
an  eloquence  discreet,  chaste  and  beautiful  he  guards  all 
the  domestic,  social  and  political  relations.  No  fanatic 
with  such  reverence  ever  hedged  about  the  sanctities  of 
the  marriage  vow,  or  by  his  teaching  and  example  gave 
such  stability  to  states,  kingdoms  and  empires.  Rome 
had  invaded  his  country,  seized  her  capital,  desecrated  her 
temple,  crucified  the  Master  of  the  great  apostle.  Does 
he  flame  into  a  socialist?  Does  he  burn  with  the  rage  of 
our  modern  nihilists?  Does  he  behave  like  those  anar- 
chists who  would  destroy  their  tyrants  with  torch,  dagger, 
and  dynamite?  No!  He  urges  on  the  Romans  submis- 
sion to  the  most  infamous  monsters  who  ever  disgraced 
the  imperial  throne.  Only  the  calm  wisdom  of  a  true 
and  disciplined  soul  ever  achieved  such  a  triumph  over 
the  vengeful  passions  of  our  nature.  You  must  believe 
such  a  man  when  through  a  life  of  peril,  labor  and  sacri- 


142  PROOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

fice,  he  testifies  to  a  fact  witnessed  by  his  eye  and  his  ear. 
Hear  his  memorable  affirmation! 

"  For  I  delivered  unto  you  first  of  all  that  which  I  also 
received;  how  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to 
the  Scriptures,  and  that  He  was  buried,  and  that  He  rose 
again  the  third  day,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  and  that 
He  was  seen  of  Cephas,  then  of  the  twelve;  after  that  He 
was  seen  of  above  five  hundred  brethren  at  once,  of  whom 
the  greater  part  remain  unto  this  present,  but  some  are 
fallen  asleep.  After  that  He  was  seen  of  James;  then  of 
all  the  apostles,  and  last  of  all  He  was  seen  of  me  also, 
as  of  one  born  out  of  due  time." 

Nor  in  our  admiration  for  the  brilliant  gifts,  the  match- 
less epistles,  and  the  splendid  career  of  St.  Paul,  must  \ve 
underestimate  the  other  Apostolic  Witnesses.  They 
were  indeed  plain,  uneducated  men.  The  success  of  their 
writings  has  been  greatly  owing  to  the  ineffable  charm  of 
their  subject.  Also  they  claim  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
inspired  and  vivified  their  record.  But  we  must  remem- 
ber that  they  had  shrewd,  strong  sense,  tried  integrity, 
and  a  natural  adaptation  to  their  work.  If  in  a  momen- 
tary panic  they  proved  cowards,  they  afterwards  evinced 
their  true  love  to  their  Master  through  lives  of  toil  and 
suffering  crowned  by  the  courage  and  constancy  of 
martyrs.  And  what  writings  have  ever  impressed  our 
world  like  the  four  Gospels  and  the  Acts.?  What  have 
converted  so  many  individuals,  shaped  so  many  nations, 
moulded  so  many  races?  What  have  been  the  subjects 
of  such  numerous  discourses,  translations  and  commen- 
taries, and,  multiplied  by  pen  and  press,  have  been  so 
widely  scattered  over  our  world?  Slight  the  influence  of 
Greek  and  Latin  and  English  classics  compared  with 
that  of  the  five  Evangelical  Histories'  The  Apostolical 
Witnesses  have  transcended  all  other  men  in  the  power 
and  success  of  their  writings. 


PROOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.  1 43 

Were  they  deceived  in  regard  to  Jesus  Christ?  Could 
they  believe  that  through  more  than  three  years  He 
healed  the  sick;  cured  the  deaf,  and  dumb,  and  halt,  and 
lame,  and  blind;  and  that  He  himself  was  seen  and  heard, 
and  handled  after  the  Resurrection,  when  in  truth  He 
never  restored  a  palsied  limb,  never  cleansed  a  leper, 
never  relieved  a  suffering  sense,  never  performed  one  of 
the  multitudinous  recorded  miracles,  never  left  His  grave 
to  become  visible,  and  audible,  and  tangible,  and  never 
ascended  into  the  heavens?  With  such  opportunities  of 
information  in  regard  to  the  person,  work,  death,  resur- 
rection and  ascension  of  Jesus  Christ  mistake  was  impos- 
sible to  the  Apostolical  Witnesses. 

But  were  they  not  deceivers?  If  you  can,  believe  them 
for  a  moment  knaves!  Reflect  then  on  the  poison  of  im- 
posture! How  it  pollutes  and  withers  the  moral  nature! 
Evil  proceeds  from  evil.  Corruption  produces  corruption. 
Vile  souls  make  vile  lives.  If  the  Apostolic  Witnesses 
forged  falsehoods  they  have  inflicted  on  man  the  greatest 
wrong  conceivable  or  possible.  And  they  could  be  no 
better  than  their  deeds.  Yet  these  impostors  preach 
repentance,  conversion,  holiness.  These  impostors  pro- 
claim the  moral  law  with  its  eternal  sanctions.  These 
impostors  announce  a  universal  judgment  and  an  ever- 
lasting retribution.  These  impostors  describe  God  in 
colors  of  matchless  holiness.  These  impostors  in  their 
own  lives  were  the  best  examples  of  purity,  in  their  deaths 
were  martyrs,  and  by  their  labors  and  writings  have  been 
the  most  successful  regenerators  of  the  world. 

But  more  even  than  His  system  was  the  character  of 
Christ,  an  invention  impossible  to  the  Apostolic  Witnesses. 
What  exquisite  beauty  in  the  parables  of  Jesus!  What 
power  in  His  discourses!  What  benevolence  in  His  deeds! 
What  majesty  in  His  person!     What  glory  in.  His  history! 


144  PROOFS  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

All  He  did,  all  He  said,  all  He  thought  was  for  the  good 
of  others.  The  poor,  the  maimed,  the  halt,  the  deaf,  the 
dumb,  the  blind,  the  palsied,  the  leprous,  the  diseased, 
the  bereaved,  the  demoniac  are  attracted  towards  this 
Incarnate  Love,  and  beg  in  crowds  healing  from  His  look, 
or  word,  or  touch.  With  what  dignified  fortitude  He  moves 
forward  to  His  predicted  cross,  where  a  universe  might 
well  make  obeisance  to  Him  as  He  dies!  In  the  records 
of  His  Resurrection  and  Ascension  what  power,  beauty, 
and  majesty!  Jesus  Christ  is  the  ideal  of  the  perfection 
of  our  humanity!  Jesus  Christ  is  a  model  for  men! 
Jesus  Christ  might  be  an  example  for  angels!  Yet  im- 
posture flashed  forth  such  an  immortal  glory!  Imposture 
counterfeited  ineffable  love!  Imposture  expended  itself 
in  ceaseless  beneficence!  Imposture  made  for  man  his 
ideal  of  purity!  Imposture  placed  before  the  universe 
the  most  sublime  moral  excellence  conceivable!  Impos- 
sible! 

Then  the  Apostolic  Witnesses  were  not  deceived. 
Then  the  Apostolic  Witnesses  were  not  deceivers.  Then 
the  Apostolic  Witnesses  bear  true  testimony  when  they 
say  that  after  His  Resurrection  tliey  saw  Jesus  Christ, 
they  heard  Jesus  Christ,  they  touched  Jesus  Christ,  they 
beheld  Jesus  Christ  ascend  from  Earth  into  Heaven. 


NARRATIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.        I45 


LECTURE  XL 
NARRA  TIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

WE  sliall  henceforth  treat  the  Resurrection  as  a 
proved  fact.  It  remains  to  examine  with  care  the 
narratives  in  which  we  find  it  recorded.  Truth  gains  by 
investigation,  and  we  will  discover  that  the  grand  crown- 
ing testimony  to  Christianity  will  stand  forth  with  new 
power  and  vividness  the  more  scrupulously  we  compare 
the  Evangelical  Histories.  Indeed,  critical  examination 
gives  certitude  to  faith. 

To  a  hasty  reader  the  narratives  of  the  Resurrection 
seem  startlingly  and  hopelessly  confused  and  contradic- 
tory. Some  think  them  rambling,  chaotic,  and  almost 
intended  to  mislead.  Thus  by  a  deep  wisdom  the  sus- 
picion of  collusion  is  absurd.  We  begin  our  examination 
with  a  desire  not  now  to  defend  the  integrity  of  the  wit- 
nesses, but  the  accuracy  of  their  record.  Let  us  see  if  from 
statements  seemingly  loose,  disjointed  and  irreconcilable 
we  can  educe  the  order  and  harmony  of  a  profound,  con- 
vincing, and  beautiful  wisdom! 

In  illustration  of  the  difficulties  of  our  work  we  will 
turn  to  the  accounts  of  the  celestial  messengers  who  shine 
and  speak  in  so  many  wonderful  transactions.  Observe 
what  perplexity  follows  if  the  announcements  are  sup- 
posed to  be  made  to  the  same  persons  as  a  superficial 
reader  deems  obvious! 

I.  St.  Matthew  records  the  appearance  and  address  of 
one  angel  to  the  women. 


146       NARRA  TIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

II.  St.  Mark  records  the  appearance  and  address  of 
one  person,  described  as  "  a  young  man  sitting  on  the 
right  side  clothed  in  a  long  white  garment."  This  may 
have  been  an  angel  in  human  form.  His  announcement 
is  similar  to  that  of  St.  Matthew.  Both  Gospels  in  vary- 
ing ways  relate  the  same  event,  and  so  far  there  is  no 
evidence  of  contradiction. 

III.  St.  Luke,  however,  says  that  the  women  beheld 
"two  men  who  stood  by  them  in  shining  garments." 
Here  is  an  apparent  discrepancy.  St.  Matthew  and  St. 
Mark  say  one,  and  St.  Luke  says  two.  The  words  to 
the  women  while  similar  in  import  are  different  in  form. 

IV.  St.  Matthew,  St.  Mark,  and  St.  Luke  all  include 
Mary  Magdalene  among  the  women  at  the  sepulchre  who 
saw  and  heard  the  celestial  visitants,  yet  in  St.  John  the' 
scene,  the  persons,  the  words,  and  the  incidents  are 
widely  different  from  the  accounts  of  the  other  three 
Gospels.  There  are  "  two  angels  in  wliite  sitting  the  one 
at  the  head,  and  the  otiier  at  the  feet  where  the  body  of 
Jesus  had  lain."  Nothing  is  said  by  them  about  the 
resurrection,  or  going  into  Galilee  to  meet  the  Saviour. 

Unquestionably  if  these  are  intended  as  narratives  of 
precisely  the  same  events,  the  confusion  is  appalling,  and 
reconciliation  impossible.  And  it  at  first  appears  that  the 
Evangelists  are  aiming  to  record  the  same  manifestations. 

A  little  patient  investigation  dissipates  tlie  clouds  of 
these  seeming  contradictions. 

Your  impression  from  St.  Matthew  is  that  only  two 
women  went  to  the  sepulchre.  He  mentions  the  names 
but  of  "  Mary  Magdalene,  and  the  other  Mary."  Read 
him  alone,  and  you  will  suppose  that  these  were  all  the 
women  at  the  tomb  on  that  eventful  morning.  Turn 
now  to  St.  Mark!  He  adds  Salome.  Proceed  to  St. 
Luke!     He  speaks  of  Joanna  also  and  of  "other  women 


NARRATIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.        I47 

with  them,"  in  which  general  expression  might  be  in- 
cluded a  large  number,  while  St.  John  gives  the  name 
only  of  Mary  Magdalene. 

When  first  we  read  the  Evangelical  Records  of  the 
Resurrection  we  suppose  that  all  the  women  came  in  a 
single  company,  and  were  witnesses  together  of  the  same 
events  at  the  same  time  and  under  the  same  circum- 
stances. Indeed,  this  error  is  the  source  of  the  confusion 
and  misapprehension  on  the  subject.  But  in  the  accounts 
themselves  we  have  no  warrant  for  such  an  inference. 
When  the  contrary  is  made  to  appear  a  veil  is  lifted,  and 
truth  sheds  her  light  of  beauty  over  the  harmonized  nar- 
ratives. 

Friends  and  enemies  of  Jesus  seemed  alike  to  accept 
the  cross  as  a  final  test  of  His  claim  to  the  Messiahship. 
All  that  He  had  wrought  and  taught  was  forgotten  in  the 
darkness  that  came  down  on  the  world  obscuring  the 
hearts  and  the  memories  of  His  disciples.  None  would 
believe  in  a  Christ  slain  ignominiously  by  Jew  and  Gen- 
tile. Over  His  cause  was  the  gloom  of  despair.  In  the 
men  hope  was  certainly  extinguished.  Amid  the  agonies 
of  the  darkness  a  few  rays  glimmered  into  the  hearts  of 
the  women,  and  their  affections  kept  them  lingering  near 
the  cross.  Joseph  of  Arimathea  begged  for  burial  the 
body  of  Jesus  which  was  delivered  to  him  by  Pilate.  He 
"  wrapped  it  in  a  clean  linen  cloth,  and  laid  it  in  his  own 
new  tomb  which  he  had  hewn  out  in  the  rock  and  he 
rolled  a  great  stone  to  the  door  of  the  sepulchre,  and 
departed." 

The  enemies  of  Jesus  seem  to  have  remembered  with 
distinctness  His  predictions  of  His  resurrection.  To 
prevent  the  possibility  of  deception,  and  stifle  His  hated 
claim  forever  in  the  tomb,  Priests  and  Pharisees  request 
from    Pilate   a   guard   of    soldiers.      Their    petition    is 


148       NARRATIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

granted.  A  watch  is  set.  Across  the  stone  a  cord  is 
drawn  and  its  ends  are  attached  to  the  rock  by  waxen 
seals  bearing  the  stamp  of  the  empire.  Until  the  morn- 
ing of  the  third  day  there  is  no  visible  change  about  the 
tomb.  At  the  dawn  of  the  Sabbath  after  the  crucifixion 
we  know  that  a  number  of  the  disciples  gathered  near 
the  sepulchre,  drawn  by  various  motives.  Some  came 
impelled  by  their  affections.  Some  brought  embalming 
spices,  and  others  perhaps  had  a  vague  hope  of  His  res- 
urrection revived  as  they  recalled  His  words  amid  the 
Sabbatic  calm  succeeding  the  terrible  scenes  of  Calvary. 

Animated  by  a  variety  of  feelings  they  would  not 
approach  the  tomb  together  at  the  same  moment.  They 
differed  in  sex,  in  faith  and  hope  and  love,  in  zeal,  in 
natural  temperament,  and  a  thousand  minute  circurri- 
stances.  Nor  could  they  all  have  lived  the  same  dis- 
tance from  the  sepulchre.  The  women  of  Galilee  would 
not  probably  find  accommodation  in  the  same  houses  at 
Jerusalem.  Moved  by  different  impulses,  influenced  by 
different  motives,  dwelling  at  different  distances  and  sur- 
rounded by  different  circumstances,  naturally  the  disci- 
ples arrived  at  different  times  and  in  different  companies. 
Even  in  any  single  group  there  would  be  great  varieties 
of  behavior. 

Armed,  watchful  and  remorseless  the  terrible  Roman 
soldiers  stood  about  the  sepulchre.  The  time  was  the 
dimness  of  the  dawn  when  the  shadows  of  the  night 
were  still  lingering  round  the  scene,  and  the  place  was 
amid  the  graves  of  tlie  dead.  Peril  was  in  the  approach. 
Over  the  body  of  the  Saviour  himself  was  a  fearful 
mystery.  Nor  had  the  blood  and  gloom  and  agony 
about  the  cross  yet  vanished  from  memory.  Also  the 
first  visitors  to  the  tomb  were  timid  women.  What  a 
trial  to  female  nerves  !     Bold  men   might  tremble.     The 


NARRATIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.        I49 

most  zealous  and  courageous  would  advance  first  and 
nearest  to  the  sepulchre.  We  would  find  different  per- 
sons in  difTerent  groups  gazing  or  conversing  in  different 
attitudes  and  at  different  distances  from  the  sacred  but 
awful  place  where  centred  the  hopes  of  humanity. 

Assisted  by  these  suggestions  it  is  easy  to  harmonize 
the  narratives  of  tlie  Resurrection. 

The  sun  has  not  yet  risen  over  Olivet.  In  the  glim- 
mer of  the  twilight  a  group  of  women  approach  timidly 
the  sepulchre  and  show  by  their  embalming  spices  that 
they  seek  a  dead  and  not  a  living  Lord.  Mary  Magda- 
lene is  there,  and  the  other  Mary.  On  their  way  Salome 
may  have  joined  the  company.  To  determine  all  the 
movements  of  these  faithful  friends  of  Jesus  is  unneces- 
sary and  impossible.  They  have  been  anticipated  by  an 
angel.  Lightning  and  earthquake  have  added  to  the 
terrors  of  the  place.  Hurled  first  to  the  ground  the. Ro- 
man guards  have  fled  in  dismay.  After  these  visible  dis- 
plays of  mysterious  power  certain  of  the  women  reach 
the  sepulchre.  The  stone  has  been  rolled  away.  The 
tomb  is  empty.  The  women  are  astonished  and  terrified. 
From  her  previous  life  and  character  we  may  suppose 
that  Mary  Magdalene,  more  bold  and  self-reliant  than 
the  rest,  would  approach  nearest  the  sacred  spot.  But 
if  this  was  so,  her  venturesome  courage  was  the  first  to 
yield,  and  she  fled  away  bearing  to  the  other  disciples 
the  strange  and  startling  news.  Soon  she  meets  St. 
Peter  and  St.  John  to  whom  she  relates  the  surprising 
facts. 

While  this  is  occurring  Salome  and  the  other  Mary, 
still  lingering  near  the  tomb,  see  the  celestial  messenger. 
His  raiment  is  white  as  snow,  and  his  face  dazzles  like 
the  lightning.  He  sits  on  the  stone  as  a  radiant  and 
solitary  guard  over  the  deserted  but  sanctified  rock.     As 


150       NARRATIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

related  in  similar  words  by  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark, 
he  first  breaks  the  silence  which  has  heretofore  rested  on 
the  scene  and  says  in  mortal  speech  with  immortal  lips, 
"  Fear  not  ye  !  I  know  that  ye  seek  Jesus  that  was 
crucified.  He  is  not  here,  for  He  is  risen  as  He  said. 
Come  see  the  place  where  the  Lord  lay  ;  and  go  tell  His 
disciples  that  He  is  risen  from  the  dead  ;  and  behold  He 
goeth  before  you  into  Galilee  ;  there  ye  shall  see  Him." 

Having  fled  from  the  empty  tomb,  Mary  Magdalene 
missed  the  first  angelic  announcement  of  the  Resurrec- 
tion of  her  Lord.  She  has,  however,  met  St.  Peter  and 
St.  John  and  told  them  the  astounding  facts.  Amazed 
and  affrighted  they  run  to  see  for  themselves.  Swifter 
than  St.  Peter  the  beloved  disciple  arrives  first,  pausing 
reverently  before  the  rock  where  had  reposed  his  Lord's 
body.  His  companion  is  restrained  by  no  such  delicacy 
of  nerve  and  soul.  With  his  characteristic  impetuosity 
St.  Peter  rushes  by  St.  John,  passes  through  the  door, 
stands  within  the  sepulchre  and  notes  in  one  part  the 
the  napkin  which  had  bound  the  head  of  Jesus,  and  in 
another  the  linen  which  had  folded  His  person,  left  be- 
hind as  the  witnesses  of  His  mortality  and  identity. 

After  the  two  apostles  leave,  Magdalene  returns  to  the 
tomb.  She  had  not  heard  the  celestial  voice  which 
cheered  her  companions.  She  is  alone.  She  is  hopeless 
in  her  passionate  grief.  The  sun  seems  gone  from  her 
life  and  she  stands  amid  solitary  gloom.  Not  only  is 
Jesus  dead,  but  His  body  has  been  taken.  Her  love  can- 
not see  it  and  embalm  it.  Dejected  and  deserted  she 
stoops  and  gazes  to  find  some  token  of  her  absent  Re- 
deemer. Her  loyal  affection  is  rewarded.  As  she  looks 
into  the  darkness,  lo,  she  beholds  the  radiancy  of  celes- 
tial watchers!  The  sepulchre  is  bright  with  a  visible 
glory!     Magdalene  sees    "two   angels  in  white  apparel 


NARRATIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION,        I5I 

sitting,  the  one  at  the  head  and  the  other  at  the  feet 
where  the  body  of  Jesus  had  lain."  Heaven  has  not  for- 
gotten her  Master.  No  monarch  ever  had  such  a  guard 
at  his  grave.  Standing  without,  her  tears  begin  to  flow. 
Even  angels  cannot  assuage  her  lonely  sorrow.  She 
wants  her  absent  Lord.  Jesus  only  will  bring  joy  to  her 
soul.  Hark!  she  is  addressed!  "Woman,  why  weepest 
thou.^"  Her  answer  shows  the  cause  of  her  grief  and  the 
depth  of  her  love.  "  She  saith  unto  them,  *  Because  they 
have  taken  away  my  Lord,  and  I  know  not  where  they 
have  laid  Him.'  " 

Angels  have  announced  the  Resurrection.  Alive  after 
death  Jesus  had  not  before  made  Himself  visible  to  mortal 
eye.  Who  shall  first  behold  the  risen  Lord.'  Mary,  his 
mother.?  Peter,  the  honored?  John,  the  beloved.'  No! 
His  first  appearance  was  to  one  reclaimed  from  the  lowest 
depths  of  woman's  degradation.  What  an  eternal  proof 
of  His  forgiving  love  !  After  the  angels,  Magdalene  first 
sees  Jesus  !  Exquisite  the  tenderness,  delicacy  and  nat- 
uralness of  the  scene  !  "J^sus  saith  to  her,  *  Woman,  why 
weepest  thou.''  She  supposing  Him  to  be  the  gardener 
saith  unto  Him,  '  Sir,  if  thou  have  borne  Him  hence,  tell 
me  where  thou  hast  laid  Him,  and  I  will  take  Him  away.' 
Jesus  saith  unto  her,  *  Mary!'  "  The  word,  the  look,  the 
tone  cause  instant  recognition.  "  She  turned  and  said 
unto  Him, '  Rabboni,'  which  is  to  say,  'Master.'  "  Thrilled, 
transported,  she  is  too  violent  in  her  approach.  Her 
passionate  love  may  have  been  sensuous  even  in  its  ador- 
ing reverence.  How  earth  and  Heaven  meet  and  mingle 
in  all  these  wonderful  scenes!  The  terrestrial  never  lost  in 
the  celestial!  The  doubt  of  Thomas!  The  impetuosity 
of  Peter!  The  veneration  of  John!  The  tear,  the  rush, 
the  rapture  of  Magdalene!  Jesus  would  awe  her  with  His 
gentle  majesty.     He  says  unto  her,  "Touch  Me  not!  for  I 


152        NARRATIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

have  not  yet  ascended  to  My  Father;  but  go  to  My  breth- 
ren and  say  unto  them  I  ascend  unto  My  Father  and  your 
Father  and  to  My  God  and  your  God." 

Such  a  scene  shows  us  the  love  of  Jehovah  beating  in 
a  human  bosom.  Passing  from  this  touching  interview 
Jesus  comes  to  the  other  Mary  and  to  Salome.  Almost 
equally  affecting  the  mingled  sweetness  and  dignity  of  His 
memorable  words.  "  All  hail ! "  He  exclaims.  The 
women  prostrate  themselves.  They  embrace  His  feet. 
They  worship  their  Lord.  But  He  recognizes  fear  even  in 
their  adoration.  How  condescending  to  the  weakness  of 
woman's  nerves!  Sympathy  breathes  in  His  tone  and 
softens  in  His  eye,  as  He  says,  "  Be  not  afraid  !  Go  tell 
My  brethren  that  they  go  before  Me  into  Galilee  !  There 
shall  they  see  Me." 

During  some  interval  between  the  events  described, 
Joanna  and  the  other  women  of  Galilee  come  upon  the 
scene.  They  are  laden  with  the  fragrant  testimonials  of 
their  affection.  Behold  them  at  the  sepulchre!  Messen- 
gers from  Heaven  appear  !  "  Two  men  stand  by  them 
in  shining  garments."  Terrified,  they  fall  prostrate  with 
their  faces  to  the  earth,  and  while  in  this  posture  of  fear 
they  hear  words  which  seem  to  imply  a  gentle  rebuke  to 
their  want  of  faith  in  the  prediction  of  their  Lord.  "Why 
seek  ye  the  living  among  the  dead?  He  is  not  here:  He 
is  risen!  Remember  how  He  spake  unto  you  when  He 
was  yet  in  Galilee,  saying  that  the  Son  of  Man  must  be 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  sinful  men,  and  be  crucified, 
and  the  third  day  rise  again."  Light  flashes  over  their 
souls.  The  words  of  the  Master  brighten  through  the 
gloom  of  memory.  They  turn  from  the  sepulchre  and 
tell  "  unto  the  eleven  and  all  the  rest,"  the  glad  news  of 
the  Resurrection. 

St.  Luke  in  his  narrative   adds  words  which  seem  to 


NARRATIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.        I  53 

include  the  totality  of  these  manifestations.  "  It  was 
Mary  Magdalene,  and  Joanna,  and  Mary  the  mother  of 
James,  and  other  women  which  were  with  them  which 
told  these  thing  unto  the  Apostles.  And  their  words 
seemed  to  them  idle  tales,  and  they  believed  them 
not." 

Why  was  the  risen  Jesus  thus  first  revealed  to  woman? 
To  show  that  love  is  better  than  knowledge?  To  teach 
that  the  heart  is  superior  to  the  head?  Or  was  her 
delicate  soul  more  susceptible  to  the  sublime  character 
of  her  Lord?  What  a  tribute  to  her  loftier  moral  nature! 
What  a  potent  force  was  this  preference  in  her  own  future 
elevation!  What  a  proof  of  the  divine  wisdom  in  her 
selection !  But  there  must  now  be  a  manifestation  to  man 
whose  testimony  is  to  be  the  basis  of  the  Kingdom  of  the 
Messiah. 

Behold  two  disciples  walking  on  the  way  to  Emmaus! 
They  are  conversing  about  the  recent  occurrences  around 
the  sepulchre,  and  especially  the  appearances  of  angels  to 
the  women.  Evidently  they  have  been  kindled  into  no 
glow  of  encouragement  by  the  reported  resurrection. 
Not  only  are  they  communing,  but  reasoning.  Christi- 
anity in  its  dawn  is  both  an  affection  and  an  argument. 
Who  joins  these  sad  men  who  had  hoped  to  find  in  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  the  Redeemer  of  Israel?  As  the  two  disci- 
ples are  not  startled  at  the  appearance  of  this  third  per- 
sonage, we  infer  that  He  had  a  mortal  form.  But  as  He 
talks  their  hearts  burn  with  a  strange  joy.  He  refers  to 
the  prophets.  He  shows  that  Christ  was  predicted  to 
pass  through  suffering  into  glory.  He  sheds  new  light 
on  the  Scriptures.  Arrived  at  their  village  He  would 
press  forward.  But  their  glowing  hearts  constrained  Him 
to  enter  their  abode,  "And  it  came  to  pass  as  He  sat  at 
meat  with  them  He  took  bread  and  blessed  it  and  break 


154       NARRATIVES  Of  THE  RESURRECTION. 

it  unto  them,  and  their  eyes  were  opened  and  they  knew 
Him  and  He  vanished  out  of  their  sight." 

A  new  flame  is  in  the  hearts  of  these  favored  disciples 
which  must  diffuse  its  glow.  They  return  to  Jerusalem 
and  proclaim  that  very  hour  the  joyful  intelligence  to 
those  Apostles  who  are  hereafter  to  be  the  chosen  wit- 
nesses of  the  Messiah.  Hear  their  simple  words:  "The 
Lord  is  risen  indeed  and  hath  appeared  unto  Simon.  And 
they  told  what  things  were  done  in  the  way,  and  how  He 
was  known  of  them  in  breaking  of  bread.  And  a.5  they 
thus  spake  Jesus  himself  stood  in  the  midst  of  them  and 
saith  unto  them.  Peace  be  unto  you." 

The  last  three  Gospels  record  this  interview,  each 
relating  part  of  the  Master's  words.  St.  Mark  gives  the 
first  commission  to  preach  and  baptize.  St.  Luke  nar- 
rates the  terror  of  the  disciples,  and  the  memorable  chal- 
lenge, '  Behold  My  hands  and  My  feet  that  it  is  I  myself! 
Handle  Me  and  see;  for  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones 
as  ye  see  Me  have."  St.  John  informs  us  that  Jesus 
coming  into  their  midst,  and  pronouncing  the  benediction 
of  peace,  also  said  after  l^reathing  on  them,  "  Receive  ye 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Whose  sins  ye  remit  they  shall  be 
remitted,  and  whose  sins  ye  retain  they  shall  be  retained." 

But  Thomas  was  not  present  at  this  interview.  He 
doubted  the  testimony  of  the  other  disciples.  To  him 
the  resurrection  seemed  an  impossibility.  The  other 
witnesses  convinced  by  their  eyes,  had  not  probably 
accepted  the  challenge  of  Jesus,  and  proved  His  identity 
by  feeling  His  person.  Joy,  or  assurance,  or  reverence 
rendered  such  a  gross  test  repulsive  and  unnecessary. 
Thomas  has  no  such  scruples.  His  words  imply  a 
reproach  against  his  associates  for  their  reserve  or  their 
neglect.  He  will  not  hesitate  to  examine  the  wounds  of 
his  Master  with  a  more  faithful  honesty.     And  the  very 


NARRATIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.        I  55 

grossness  of  his  demand  becomes  a  final  and  supreme 
proof  that  the  Jesus  nailed  to  the  cross  and  laid  in  the 
grave  was  He  who  was  seen  by  His  disciples.  After 
eight  days,  when  the  doors  were  shut,  He  stood  in  their 
midst,  with  the  blessing  of  peace,  and  said  to  Thomas, 
"  Reach  hither  thy  finger,  and  behold  My  hands,  and 
reach  hither  thy  hand  and  thrust  it  into  My  side,  and  be 
not  faithless,  but  believing.  And  Thomas  answered  and 
said  unto  Him,  *  My  Lord  and  my  God.'  " 

Arranged  thus  there  is  no  conflict,  but  a  beautiful 
harmony  in  the  manifestations  of  Jesus  Christ  after  His 
Resurrection.  Minute  comparison  removes  doubt  and 
inspires  belief.  Only  those  who  search  will  find  eternal 
truth. 

To  fix  chronologically  the  appearance  on  the  shore  of 
Tiberias  is  ditftcult.  But  as  it  conflicts  with  no  other 
record  the  precise  time  is  of  less  importance.  Whenever 
the  occurrence,  nothing  can  be  more  affecting. 

Morning  glances  over  the  sublime  summits  of  Lebanon. 
As  the  dawn  vanishes  deeper  shadows  from  the  sun  rest 
on  the  shores  and  hills  of  Tiberias.  St.  Peter  is  on  a 
vessel  in  the  hike.  What  form  on  the  land  is  visible  in 
the  brightening  light  ?  As  John  has  been  swifter  than 
Peter  so  is  his  vision  keener.  He  exclaims,  "  It  is  the 
Lord."  These  words  excite  recognition,  and  awake  all 
the  love  and  energy  of  the  impulsive  disciple  who  rushed 
first  into  the  tomb.  Girt  with  his  fisher's  coat,  Peter 
flings  himself  into  the  sea  and  swims  to  his  ^Lister.  All 
soon  collect  around  a  "  fire  of  coals."  After  dinner  be- 
gins a  conversation  memorable  forever  for  its  exquisite 
tenderness,  delicacy  and  beauty.  Only  the  divine  in  the 
human  could  breathe  over  tlie  denying  Peter  such  a 
sympathy  of  love.     To  art  the  picture  is  impossible: 

"  Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  lovest  thou  Me  more  than  these? 


156       NARRATIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

He  saith  unto  Him,  Yea,  Lord,  Thou  knowest  that  I  love 
Thee.  He  saith  unto  hirn,  Feed  my  Lambs!  He  saith 
unto  him  again  the  second  time,  Simon,  Son  of  Jonas, 
lovest  thou  Me  ?  He  saith  unto  Him,  Yea,  Lord,  Thou 
knowest  that  I  love  Thee.  He  said  unto  him,  Feed  my 
Sheep!  He  said  unto  him  a  third  time,  Simon,  Son  of 
Jonas,  lovest  thou  Me?  Peter  was  grieved  because  He 
said  unto  him  a  third  time,  lovest  thou  Me?  And  he  said 
unto  Him,  Lord,  Thou  knowest  all  things;  Thou  knowest 
that  I  love  Thee." 

The  next  appearance  of  our  Lord  is  in  Galilee,  where 
the  disciples  have  assembled  at  His  command.  All  stand 
together  on  a  mountain.  Sublime  emblem  of  that  Pulpit 
which  is  to  make  universal  proclamation  of  a  Redeemej! 
The  wide  earth,  the  free  air,  the  expanse  of  heaven  are 
all  symbolic  of  a  commission  extensive  as  our  race,  and 
enduring  as  time.  Henceforth  not  Judea,  but  the  world 
is  to  be  the  field  of  the  Church.  Hear  words  spoken  for 
every  land  and  for  every  age  ! 

*'  All  power  is  given  to  Me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Go 
ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost!  Teaching  them  to  observe  whatever  I  have  com- 
manded you,  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  always  even  unto  the 
end  of  the  world!" 

Behold  the  close  of  this  wonderful  career!  Jesus  and 
His  witnesses  are  on  Olivet.  Fitly  the  place  of  the  cru- 
cifixion and  the  resurrection  should  be  overlooked  by 
the  mountain  of  the  ascension.  The  final  triumph  is  re- 
corded with  what  words  of  beauty,  affection  and  majesty! 

"  And  He  led  them  out  as  far  as  to  Bethany,  and  He 
lifted  up  His  hands  and  blessed  them  ;  and  it  came  to 
pass  while  He  blessed  them  He  was  parted  from  them, 
and  carried  up  into  Heaven." 


NARRATIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.        15/ 

As  He  lifts  Himself  to  His  glory,  how  suitable  to  His 
nature  and  mission  that  He  should  stretch  His  hands  in 
blessing  over  the  earth  that  had  pierced  Him! 

The  narrative  in  the  Acts,  also  remarkable  for  power 
and  dignity,  expresses  more  fully  that  fact  of  testimony 
on  which  Christianity  is  forever  founded. 

"  And  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me,  both  in  Jerusalem 
and  in  all  Judea,  and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth.  And  when  He  had  spoken  these  things,  while 
they  beheld,  He  was  taken  up,  and  a  cloud  received 
Him  out  of  their  sight." 

Having  thus  shown  the  delicate  and  beautiful  har- 
monies in  the  Evangelical  Histories  of  the  Resurrection, 
permit  a  few  comments  on  those  narratives  of  facts  so 
marvellous,  stupendous  and  unexampled. 

I.    YOU     WILL    REMARK     THE    PROOFS    THAT     OUR     LORD 
APPEARED  IN  HIS  VERITABLE  BODY. 

Seen  first  by  Mary  Magdalene,  He  was  mistaken  by  her 
for  the  gardener,  and  recognition  came  through  the  famil- 
iar tone  of  his  voice.  Incidentally,  but  conclusively,  this 
proves  that  after  His  resurrection  He  was  human  in  aspect 
and  in  reality.  When  Salome  and  the  other  Mary  em- 
braced His  feet  it  was  evidently  because  they  knew  Him 
as  their  Lord.  The  disciples  on  the  way  to  Emmaus  re- 
garded Him  as  an  ordinary  traveller  until  He  broke  the 
bread  and  vanished  out  of  their  sight.  But  no  cloud  of 
doubt  must  obscure  His  identity.  On  this  rested  the 
proof  of  His  Resurrection,  and  on  the  proof  of  His  Resur- 
rection the  whole  scheme  of  Christianity.  Hence  His 
assertion  that  He  was  not  a  spirit,  but  possessed  the  flesh 
and  bones  of  an  ordinary  human  body.  Hence  He  called 
for  meat  and  partook  of  fish  and  honeycomb,  to  show  by 
the  most  animalistic  functions  that  He  preserved  His 
physical  personality  and  was  not  sublimated  into  a  spec- 


158        NARRATIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

tral  shadow.  Hence  His  command  to  Thomas  to  prove 
by  contact  with  His  wounds  that  He  was  the  same  Jesus 
who  on  the  cross  had  His  hand  pierced  by  the  nail  and 
His  side  with  the  spear.  By  His  yet  open  flesh  would 
He  establish  His  identity.  On  the  shore  of  Tiberias 
His  witnesses  obeyed  His  familiar  voice,  and  casting 
their  net  enclosed  a  multitude  of  fishes.  But  already  He 
had  supplied  His  physical  needs.  Landing  they  found 
fire,  and  fish  and  bread,  and  dined  with  the  risen  Jesus. 
His  body  sustained  by  food  was  essentially  human.  He 
was  yet  in  the  flesh  perceptible  to  sense.  All  these 
minute  circumstances,  so  trivial  and  so  incidental,  were 
legally  necessary  to  prove  the  identity  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Only  on  the  testimony  of  eye  and  ear  and  hand  could  the 
Evangelical  Witnesses  establish  the  Resurrection,  and 
place  our  immortality  on  an  eternal  foundation. 

II.  BUT  WHILE  OUR  RISEN  SAVIOUR  WAS  PERCEPTIBLE 
IN  HIS  VERITABLE  BODY,  IT  HAD  ALSO  SUPER- 
NATURAL   ATTRIBUTES. 

During  His  ministry  His  usual  habits  were  those  of  His 
disciples.  He  lived  with  His  apostolic  witnesses  that 
they  might  acquire  that  familiarity  with  His  person  which 
was  to  be  the  basis  of  their  testimony.  He  did  not  thus 
habitually  mingle  with  them  after  His  resurrection.  His 
appearances  were  casual,  sudden  and  extraordinary. 
While  recognized  as  the  same  Jesus  there  was  yet  around 
Him  some  awfulness  of  mystery.  During  His  absences 
where  did  He  live  ?  Was  His  couch  in  the  cave  or  the 
wilderness?  Were  angels  His  companions?  Or  did  He 
dwell  in  solitude?  What  supported  His  human  life?  Did 
fish  and  bread  on  the  shore  of  Tiberias  prove  that  He 
lived  on  ordinary  mortal  food  ?  Or  while  invisible  was  He 
present  a  guest  at  their  board,  a  spectator  of  their,  deeds, 
a  hearer  of  their  words,  one  of  their  number  while  hidden 


NARRATIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.        I  59 

from  their  gaze  ?  He  could  see,  hear,  eat,  walk,  speak, 
but  He  also  came  unseen  and  vanished  suddenly,  enter- 
ing when  the  doors  were  shut,  disappearing  with  the 
facility  of  a  spirit,  always  preserving  the  dignity  and 
majesty  suitable  to  a  body  which  had  come  from  the 
tomb,  and  was  the  tabernacle  of  a  soul  which  had  beheld 
the  mysteries  of  Hades.  With  what  delicacy,  beauty  and 
propriety  Jesus  adapted  Himself  to  a  condition  which 
thus  partook  of  the  terrestrial  and  the  celestial,  the  tem- 
poral and  the  eternal! 

HI.  MOST  PROBABLY  IN  THE  ACT  OF  THE  ASCENSION 
THE  BODY  OF  JESUS  ASSUMED  ITS  EVERLASTING 
GLORY. 

By  His  Resurrection  our  Saviour  had  conquered  death 
the  universal  destroyer.  By  coming  alive  from  the 
tomb  He  reversed  the  law  of  mortality  which  had  borne 
down  to  the  dust  of  the  earth  all  the  generations  of  men. 
But  there  is  a  law  wider  than  death,  or  our  world,  or 
our  system.  It  rules  the  universe.  Every  atom  of 
creation  is  under  the  power  of  gravitation.  During  our 
Saviour's  earthly  career  His  body  was  subject  to  earthly 
conditions.  His  ascension  from  Olivet  indicated  a 
change  in  this  mortal  state.  Gravitation  no  longer  kept 
His  body  in  our  world.  Some  transformation  exempted 
Him  from  material  law.  Yet  while  rising  He  was  visible 
until  concealed  by  a  cloud,  and  if  perceived  by  a  physi- 
cal organ  He  was  not  wholly  a  spiritual  substance. 
When  and  how  the  change  was  completed  is  not  revealed. 
We  know  that  the  mortal  assumed  the  immortal.  The 
body  of  the  cross  and  the  grave  was  fashioned  into  a 
glory  suitable  to  the  King  of  a  universe.  Hence  the 
splendors  of  this  ascended  Saviour  dazzled  St.  Paul  into 
blindness.  St.  John  affirms  that  His  "  countenance  was 
as  the  sun  shining  in  his  strength,"  and  the  Apostle  fell 


l60       NARRATIVES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

as  dead  before  His  superlative  majesty.  We  may  be 
sure  all  the  treasures  of  Divinity  have  been  lavished  on 
the  body  of  Jesus  to  make  it  before  His  subject  creation 
the  visible  and  eternal  tabernacle  of  His  Godhead. 


CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.     l6l 


LECTURE  XII. 
CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

NOTHING  in  our  age  more  promotes  skepticism  than 
forgetfulness  of  the  R>ssurrection  as  a  living  power. 
Testimony  to  its  truth  is  the  grand  function  of  the  Church. 
The  mind  is  confused  amid  innumerable  instances  of 
the  supernatural  scattered  over  four  thousand  years 
of  history.  It  is  as  if  the  pilot  steered  by  the  countless 
hillocks  of  the  shore  when  one  bold  mountain  should  de- 
termine his  course.  How  interesting  then  to  trace  the 
consequences  of  a  stupendous  central  fact  like  the  Resur- 
rection! 

I.    IT  PROVES  THE  MESSIAHSHIP  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

The  disciples  had  witnessed  His  miracles  during  His 
whole  ministry.  They  had  heard  Him  constantly  apply 
ing  to  Himself  the  lessons  of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets. 
How  vivid  must  have  been  the  light  thus  shed  over  Him- 
self from  the  Old  Testament!  How  deep  must  have 
been  the  impression  from  His  signs  and  wonders !  Yet 
His  works  and  lessons  dissolve  as  a  dream  before  His 
cross.  What  should  have  illuminated  all,  through  their 
human  feebleness  darkened  all.  Every  proof  of  Messiah- 
ship  seemed  obscured  in  the  gloom  of  Calvary.  But 
when  convinced  that  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead,  how  His 
life  and  teaching  came  back  to  them  with  a  new  power! 
Not  only  was  hope  kindled  but  memory  was  strengthened 
and  reason  enlarged.  They  had  expected  a  temporal 
Messiah  with  a  throne  in  Jerusalem.     But  Jesus  is  lifted 


l62     CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

into  Heaven  as  the  King  of  the  Universe.  Here  is  a  con- 
summation beyond  every  Jewish  imagination,  and  yet 
when  realized,  visibly  taught,  typified  and  predicted  for 
ages.  When  it  was  perceived  that  Christ  on  the  cross 
was  the  one  great  satisfaction  for  sin,  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets,  while  fulfilled  with  an  unsurpassable  glory  and 
grandeur,  were  not  cast  aside  as  dead  and  worthless  tokens 
of  an  infant  and  imperfect  past.  They  furnished  to  the 
sacrifice  of  Jesus  a  living  language.  Types  and  prophe- 
cies were  vivified  into  a  fresher  and  fuller  beauty.  Thus 
the  facts  of  the  Law  became  the  apt,  the  varied,  the  ex- 
haustless  illustrations  of  the  Gospel.  In  the  Messiah- 
ship  of  Jesus  the  Old  and  the  New  mingle  and  harmonize 
forever  and  the  whole  Scriptures  stand  forth  illuminated 
with  an  everlasting  light.  The  stars  teach  more  exqui-  • 
sitely  their  lessons  when  we  can  compare  them  with  the 
effulgence  of  the  sun. 

And  it  is  hazardous  for  any  Christian  to  estimate 
slightly  miracles  and  prophecies  which  preceded  a  resur- 
rection establishing  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus  Christ.  All 
were  parts  of  one  grand  system.  The  apostles  constantly 
appealed  to  the  predictions  of  the  Old  Testament  and  to 
the  signs  and  seals  of  the  New.  When  we  despise  these 
as  relics  of  a  barbaric  and  exploded  past  we  should  exam- 
ine ourselves  to  discover  whether  we  believe  in  the  Resur- 
rection of  Jesus  to  which  they  point  as  rays  converge  to 
the  great  orb  of  light  and  life;  and  what  more  fearful 
mockery  than  to  unite  in  the  celebration  of  the  festival 
of  Easter  and  secretly  deny  the  vital  fact  testified  even 
while  it  is  kindling  believers  into  an  immortal  joy! 

IL    THE  RESURRECTION  OF  JESUS,  PROVING    HIS   MESSIAH- 
SHIP,  GIVES  AUTHORITY  TO  HIS  CHURCH. 

You  will  remember  that  we  laid  the  foundations  of  our 
argument  for   the   credibility   of   the  Scriptures    in    the 


CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.     1 63 

authenticity  of  the  Evangelical  Histories.  On  the  Gospels 
and  the  Acts  rests  the  whole  scheme  of  Christianity. 
Only  in  them  is  the  history  of  the  Church,  and  their 
authenticity  may  be  established  by  independent  testimony. 
But  when  in  addition  to  the  authenticity  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Histories  we  prove  from  them  the  Resurrection, 
then  we  have  the  Church  founded  on  the  consequent 
divine  Messiahship  of  our  Saviour  as  her  everlasting 
rock.  The  argument  is  logically  complete.  The  Church 
henceforth  reposes  on  the  proved  Godhead  of  her  Lord. 
Commissioned  by  Him  the  apostles  went  forth  over  the 
world  to  proclaim  salvation  by  a  divine  authority.  They 
were  to  guilty  men  ambassadors  from  God,  and  the 
Church  became  the  living  representative  of  the  Sovereign 
of  the  universe,  deriving  her  power  from  her  risen 
Messiah, 

III.    THE    RESURRECTION    OF    JESUS   CHRIST    ESTABLISHES 
THE    AUTHORITY    OF    THE    OLD    TESTAMENT. 

Immediately  after  His  introduction  by  baptism  to  His 
ministry,  in  the  temptation  of  the  wilderness.  He  used 
the  Scriptures  by  them  to  conquer  His  adversary.  In  His 
sermon  on  the  mountain,  when  announcing  the  principles 
of  His  universal  kingdom,  He  was  careful  to  show  that 
He  came  to  make  perfect  what  Moses  had  left  unfinished. 
He  said: 

**  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  Law,  and 
the  Prophets :  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil. 
For  verily  I  say  unto  you,  till  Heaven  and  Earth  pass 
away,  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  way  pass  from  the 
Law  until  all  be  fulfilled." 

Afterwards  Jesus  commanded  the  Jews  to  search  the 
Scriptures,  giving  as  a  reason  because  they  testified  of 
Himself.  Now  we  have  proven  that  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures existed  in  the  times  of  our  Saviour,  and  were  in  the 


164     CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

homes  and  synagogues  of  the  Jewish  people.  It  was  then 
to  those  Scriptures  He  appealed.  It  was  those  Scriptures 
His  countrymen  were  directed  to  examine.  It  was  those 
Scriptures  which  He  came  to  fulfil.  After  His  resurrec- 
tion it  is  out  of  those  Scriptures  He  reasons.  "  Begin- 
ning at  Moses  and  all  the  Prophets  He  expounded  to 
them  in  all  the  Scriptures  the  things  concerning  Himself." 
You  will  observe  that  no  part  is  excepted.  The  explana- 
tion of  the  Messiah  extended  over  the  whole.  In  all  the 
Scriptures  He  expounded  whatever  pertained  to  Himself 
as  the  sum  and  centre  of  the  Old  Testament. 

The  explicitness  on  this  subject  is  most  striking. 
Jesus  Christ  is  careful  to  describe  the  Written  Word  by 
all  the  titles  current  among  the  Jews.  He  also  impresses 
on  them  the  fact  that  whatever  they  saw  and  heard  con* 
cerning  Him  was  but  a  verification  of  what  had  been 
promised  and  predicted. 

"  He  said  unto  them,  These  are  the  words  which  I  spake 
unto  you  while  I  was  yet  with  you,  that  all  things  must 
be  fulfilled  which  were  written  in  the  I-aw  of  Moses,  and 
in  the  Prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms  concerning  Me. 
Then  opened  He  their  understanding  that  they  might 
understand  the  Scriptures,  and  said  unto  them  thus  it 
behooved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the 
third  day." 

Thus,  before  and  after  His  Resurrection  Jesus  Christ 
referred  to  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  as  the  witnesses  of 
Himself.  This  He  considered  their  grand  purpose. 
Nor  does  He  leave  any  doubt  as  to  what  He  intended  by 
the  word  Scriptures.  As  we  have  seen,  He  speaks  of 
them  under  the  familiar  titles  by  which  they  were  then 
known.  The  Jews  reverenced  them  as  inspired  by  Jeho- 
vah. They  themselves  in  all  their  parts  claim  to  be  the 
will  and  word  of  Jehovah.     Jesus  Christ  gave  every  proof 


CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.     165 

that  He  considered  them  from  Jehovah.  They  were  His 
standards.  They  contained  His  title  to  the  Messiahship. 
They  were  used  by  Him  as  establishing  the  truth. 
"  Thus  it  is  written,"  was  ever  His  final,  His  sufficient. 
His  triumphant  argument.  And  after  His  Resurrection 
how  careful  was  He  to  place  on  the  whole  Hebrew  Scrip- 
ture the  seal  of  His  proved  Messiahship!  In  His  passage 
from  His  grave  to  His  throne  He  left  on  them  the  im- 
press of  the  authority  of  His  Godhead. 

He  did  not  distinguish  one  book  from  another.  Nor 
did  He  wrest  from  Moses  the  authorship  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, refer  portions  of  it  to  an  age  a  thousand  years 
later,  and  ascribe  not  only  chapters,  but  even  parts  of 
verses  to  different  writers.  He  did  not  tell  us  that 
Proverbs  was  a  legend;  that  Ecclesiastes  was  a  philo- 
sophical enigma;  that  Canticles  was  an  amorous  epithala- 
mium;  that  Daniel,  composed  after  the  events  professedly 
predicted,  was  a  forgery  rather  than  a  prophecy;  that  the 
entire  Old  Testament  was  a  mixture  of  myths,  barba- 
risms, and  indecencies,  and  unsuitable  for  delicate  ears 
and  a  refined  civilization.  The  risen  Messiah  on  the 
whole  Hebrew  Canon  placed  the  imprint  of  His  own  in- 
fallible Divinity. 

Surely  He  would  have  corrected  in  His  countrymen 
perceived  error,  and  also  have  guarded  from  mistake  the 
future  ages  of  His  Church!  Never  would  He  have  mis- 
led the  world  by  His  precept  and  His  example.  If  He  thus 
accepted  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  how  hazardous  to  ques- 
tion His  accuracy,  to  correct  His  course,  or  doubt  His 
wisdom!  If  He  be  the  Messiah,  we  must  submit  to  His 
Omniscience  and  acknowledge  His  Godhead.  The  peril 
of  despising  the  profound  rabbinical  learning  in  regard 
to  the  Jewish  Canon  is  proven  to  be  immense.  Modern 
scholars  might  well  hesitate  to  disturb  the  traditions  of 


l66     CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

thousands  of  years.  In  our  view  the  answers  to  the 
Higher  Criticism  are  overwhelming,  and  the  wisdom  of 
the  Universal  Church  triumphantly  vindicated  merely  as 
a  question  of  sound  judgment  and  profound  erudition. 
Nothing  can  be  more  obvious  than  that  reckless  depart- 
ures from  the  authorized  canon  of  the  Old  Testament 
are  attended  with  danger  and  confusion.  Without  ques- 
tioning the  genius,  the  learning,  or  the  industry  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Higher  Criticism,  plainly  their  theories  are 
endless  and  their  contradictions  irreconcilable,  absurd 
and  even  ludicrous.  They  resemble  men  who,  having 
left  the  pastures  of  truth,  are  fighting  and  floundering  in 
some  inextricable  marsh. 

But  it  is  when  we  see  scholars  arrayed  against  the  risen 
Messiah  we  appreciate  their  desperate  peril.  Let  them 
examine  themselves!  Do  not  their  free  criticisms  of  what 
He  has  approved  generate  skepticism?  When  they  ascribe 
to  Him  error  they  deny  His  infallibility.  When  they 
correct  His  judgments  they  insult  His  Godhead.  When 
they  make  themselves  wiser  than  Jesus,  He  is  no  longer 
their  risen,  their  ascended,  their  adored  Divine  King. 
As  He  received  the  Old  Testament  we  are  to  receive 
it.  As  He  used  it  we  are  to  use  it.  As  He  reverenced 
it,  we  are  to  reverence  it.  As  it  was  His  Book  of  final 
appeal,  it  is  to  be  our  Book  of  final  appeal.  Not  in  Ezra, 
not  in  Jewish  tradition,  not  in  modern  scholarship,  but 
finally  and  forever,  the  authority  of  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures rests  in  the  Godhead  of  the  risen  Messiah. 

IV.  AND  HIS  SEAL  ALSO  MAKES  AUTHORITATIVE  THE 
NEW  TESTAMENT  THROUGH  THE  CHRISTIAN 
CHURCH. 

Our  Saviour  for  years  instructed  His  Apostolic  Wit- 
nesses. They  had  been  the  companions  of  His  ministry. 
They  had  heard   His  discourses.      They  had    seen  His 


CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.     1 6/ 

miracles.  Above  all,  they  beheld  Him  after  His  Resur- 
rection. But  a  faith  ending  in  the  senses  was  insufficient. 
Christianity  proposes  more  than  knowledge.  While  it 
instructs,  it  would  also  renovate.  Through  the  conscience 
it  would  purify  the  affections,  and  by  a  holy  heart  make 
a  right  life.  Hence  the  promise  to  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  which  was  realized  in  the  light,  the  fire,  the 
power,  the  glory,  the  triumph  of  Pentecost.  But  our 
Saviour  had  said  that  His  Spirit  should  guide  into  all 
truth,  and  He  had  prayed  for  the  unity  of  His  own 
through  all  future  time. 

As  the  grand  basis  for  this  unity,  in  nothing  was  the  care 
of  the  Church  more  visible  than  in  settling  the  canon  of 
the  New  Testament.  We  have  seen  that  the  first  complete 
transmitted  catalogue  was  that  of  Origen,  and  that  the 
books  he  includes  are  those  now  without  exception  re- 
ceived. For  more  than  two  centuries  some  fathers  of 
eminence  CKpressed  doubts  as  to  certain  of  the  later 
epistles.  Their  cautious  reserve  shows  their  estimate  of 
the  importance  of  the  subject,  and  their  freedom  from 
prejudice,  while  it  also  stimulated  to  more  minute  and 
extensive  investigation.  But  after  long  waiting,  after 
learned  and  patient  labors,  after  both  private  examina- 
tion and  public  deliberation,  by  direct  decrees,  and  by 
inferences  innumerable,  the  Universal  Church  gave  her 
consent  to  the  books  we  find  in  our  New  Testament. 
They  have  thus  all  the  veneration  due  to  a  catholic  au- 
thority, and  evince  in  this  unity  of  reception  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  promise  of  Jesus  Christ.  As  our  risen 
Messiah,  looking  through  the  past,  placed  the  seal  of 
His  Divinity  on  the  Old  Testament,  so,  looking  through 
the  future,  by  His  Church,  He  placed  the  seal  of  His 
Divinity  on  the  New  Testament. 

Having  completed  our  argument  we  will  venture  a  sug- 


l68     CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

gestion.  We  are  often  saluted  with  sneers,  and  tormented 
with  doubts  at  the  spectacle  of  a  divided  Christendom. 
But  we  must  remember  the  enormous  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  union,  and  also  that  ages  may  be  necessary  to  com- 
plete a  work  so  vast  and  so  embarrassed.  Yet  we  may 
perceive  amid  this  chaos  of  our  humanity,  as  amid  the 
nebulae  of  space,  a  nucleus  of  eternal  and  universal  unity. 

We  must  not  forget  the  subtle,  the  mysterious,  the  in- 
eradicable differences  of  race,  and  the  mighty  aim  of 
Christianity.  Ancient  religions  were  national.  Egyp- 
tians, Babylonians,  Persians,  Greeks,  Romans,  had  their 
peculiar  gods,  myths  and  ceremonies,  with  no  wish  for 
propagation.  The  Mosaic  Dispensation  was  intended 
only  for  the  Jew.  But  Christianity  would  mould  into 
unity  a  divided  world. 

And  supposing  an  agreement  in  the  Canon  of  the  Scrip- 
ture, hov/  difficult  to  gather  a  common  system  from  a  book 
produced  in  a  narrow  and  exclusive  nation,  composed 
by  many  writers  during  fifteen  centuries,  written  with  the 
peculiarities  of  the  oriental  style,  avoiding  the  form  of  a 
treatise,  hated  now  for  Jewish  intolerance  and  now  for 
Christian  catholicity,  cast  into  the  seething  mass  of  the 
world's  idolatries,  humbling  proud  philosophies,  and  ex- 
posed in  its  interpretation  to  the  passions  and  preju- 
dices of  sect,  age  and  nation  in  this  evil  earth  provoked 
by  its  attempts  at  universal  supremacy  !  From  such  a 
chaos  of  elements  can  eternal  truth  emerge  unsullied  .'' 
Without  alloy  shall  the  everlasting  gold  escape  from  this 
crucible  ?  Passing  through  the  medium  of  our  shattered 
humanity  the  pure  light  will  experience  many  a  deflec- 
tion which  will  produce  discoloration.  Such  would  seem 
the  inevitable  result.  Only  an  omniscient  wisdom  could 
prevent  what  must  ]iai)pen  under  the  operation  of  the 
laws  ordinarily  governing  mankind. 


CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.     169 

We  will  find  our  illustration  in  the  Council  of  Nicsea. 
It  was  summoned  by  Constantine  chiefly  to  promote 
union  in  his  vast,  surging,  distracted  empire.  The  mo- 
tive convening  this  religious  synod  was  low,  selfish  and 
political.  What  fierce  passions  it  represented !  Im- 
ported from  Alexandria  were  strifes  which  had  stained 
that  city  with  murder.  Constantinople  sent  statesmen 
and  ecclesiastics  who  were  mere  sycophants  of  the  cor- 
rupt court  of  the  Byzantine  capital.  East  and  West  met 
with  those  rival  claims  of  precedence  which  afterwards 
tore  asunder  Christendom,  What  wild,  monkish  fanati- 
cisms kindled  the  assembly  into  a  blaze!  How  can  the 
compromising  Eusebius,  the  artful  Arius,  the  heroic 
Athanasius  have  their  antagonisms  overruled  in  the  in- 
terests of  everlasting  truth  .-'  From  such  a  volcano  we 
could  scarcely  expect  to  shine  over  earth  the  pure  light 
of  Heaven. 

Yet  from  the  fire  and  smoke  of  that  ecclesiastical 
furnace  emerged  the  symbol  of  faith  which  unites  Chris- 
tendom !  A  mirror  of  the  Scripture  it  reflects  every 
great  doctrine  of  our  salvation.  Only  the  promise  of  our 
risen  Saviour  realized  in  His  Divine  Presence  could  have 
achieved  such  a  result.  In  the  Nicene  Creed,  confirmed  at 
Ephesus  and  expanded  at  Chalcedon,  is  made  visible  the 
essential  doctrinal  unity  of  the  Church  Catholic.  Greek, 
Latin  and  Anglican  receive  it  together.  Romanist  and 
Protestant  may  hush  in  it  their  strifes.  With  equally 
fervent  lips  it  may  be  pronounced  by  Calvinist  and 
Arminian.  Presbyterians,  Methodists,  Baptists,  Congre- 
gationalists  can  declare  it  their  common  symbol.  You 
hear  it  in  London  ;  you  hear  it  in  Rome  ;  you  hear  it  in 
St.  Petersburg  ;  you  hear  it  in  Constantinople  ;  you  hear 
it  in  Jerusalem  ;  you  hear  it  in  New  York.  Differing 
ill  all  else,  Christians  substantially  unite  in   the  Nicene 


170     CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

Creed.  It  vindicates  the  promise  of  our  ascended  Lord, 
and  if  recited  over  the  world  by  believers,  their  ming- 
ling voices,  louder  than  the  ocean  and  the  thunder, 
would  confess  a  common  faith  before  the  universe. 


